The King's Indian Defense
The King's Indian Defense
Dejan Bojkov
ETROPOLITAN
Contents
Introduction
15
17
67
91
107
121
189
213
237
273
307
Index of Variations
355
Symbols
Good move
!!
?
??
!?
?!
Excellent move
Bad move
Blunder
Deserves attention
Dubious
#
D
Checkmate
oo
Unclear position
Equal position
;!;
+-
White is winning
-+
Black is winning
00
Introduction
ear reader, you are holding in your hands a book on my beloved opening,
the King's Indian Defense. I started playing this line in my youthful
days after reading the famous book by David Bronstein about the Interzonal
tournament in Zurich-Neuhausen 1953 . It was the time when the defense
appeared in elite tournaments and never left.
Skembris
Van Wely
Skei 1993
14.a3 c5/
Introduction
Qhl#.)
18 . . . Ng3+
19.hxg3
20.Nfl Qh6+ 2 1 . Nh2 Kg7-+
Qxf8
Ischia 1995
18 . . . (5
With the attack. The outcome of
Black's idea is very impressive, and
the position of his pieces on the king's
flank is quite frightening.
19. exf5
Here, Ilya Smirin introduced a
fabulous novelty, based on his deep
understanding of the position:
Not 19.Qcl
2 1 . Kg2 f4+.
Nf4
20.g3
Nh3+
21. b4
Or 2 1 .bxa4!?
21 . . . Nb3+
16 . . . Bg5/
The point behind Black's maneu
ver. Without the black-squared bish
op, White can do nothing to control
his dark-squared perimeter.
1 7. Bxg5
The exchange is poison, as Black
will mate on the dark squares:
17.Bxf8? Be3+ 18.Kh l (Also mating
31. Qe2
If all the white pawns leave the
black squares, White will have no
control over them: 3 1 .b3 Rc8 3 2 . Kc2
Rxc4+! 33 .bxc4 Rb2+-+.
34 . . . Re7
Kamsky - Kasparov
Rxb2+
38 . . . Rxf3
There were other wins as well,
for example 38 . . . Re8!? 39.Rd3 Qb4
40.Qc3 Qxc3 4 1 . Rxc3 Rd2+ 42 . Kcl
Rel mate.
Qgl+
Introduction
Kotov - Gligoric
16.Nf3
Qe7
1 7. Nxe5
18. 0-0-0 Nf6 19. h3 Bd7
Qxe5
Avery
Gligoric
USA 1971
21 . . . Rf4!
22. Bxf4
24. Rc2
exf4
23. Nd3
Qxg5+
28. Rxb2
If
2 8 . Rc6
then
28 . . . Bxb3+!
29.axb3 Qe5 30.Rxa6 Bc3+.
Introduction
I) A Piece
Miroshnichenko - Bojkov
12 . . . Ncxe4!
13. Ndxe4
Nxe4
14. Nxe4 f5 15. Nc3 f4 1 6. Bd2 e4
1 7. 0- 0 e3 18. Be1 axb4 19. axb4
Rxa1 20. Qxa1
Introduction
11
2) ARook
Piket
Kasparov
Tilburg 1989
h5!-+.
2 5 . Nd3 ! :
a ) 25 . . . Nxg2
2 6 . Kxg2
Rg7+
27.Kh 2 Ng3 ! 2 8 . Bxg3 Qg5 29. Rg1D
Qh5+ 30.Kg2 Be3 3 l .Rhl Rxg3+
32.Kxg3 Qg5+ 33 . Kh2 Qh4+ 34.Kg2
Qg5+ 3 5 . Kh2 Qh4+=.
b) 2 5 ... Rg7
2 6 . Nxf4
Bxf4
27.g4 ! (27. Rc7? Ng3! 2B. Rxd7 Qh4
21 . . . Nh5!
20 . . . g8!
Time is more precious than the
material!
21.Nxa8?
Here are some beautifullines giv
en by Kasparov's trainer:
2l .hxg3
fxg3 !
2 2 . Bxg3
Bh6 !
23.Nxa8 !
(23.Ne6 Bxe6 24.dxe6
12
Introduction
22. Kh1D
2 2 . Bxa7 Qh4 23 .h3 Bxh3 24.gxh3
Qxh3 2 5 . Rf2 gxf2+ 2 6 . Kxf2 Nh4
27. Bfl Qh2+ 2 8 . Ng2 Rg7-+.
3) A Queen!
Kramnik - Kasparov
26. Qd3?!
Other moves lose, too: 26.hxg3
fxg3 27.Rb2 Qd8 2 8 . Kfl Bh6 29.Ke2
Qg5 -+.
And 2 6 . Nd3 Qa7 27.Nc5 Bb5 !
26. . . Qa7 2 7. b5
If 27. Rcc2 then 27 . . . Be7 threaten
ing 28 . . . Bh4 .
12 . . . Nfxe4!!
Kasparov had prepared this line
especially for the blitz match with
Kramnik.
13. Bxd8
15. Rcl ?!
Nxc3
14. Qel
Rfxd8
Introduction
13
14
Introduction
Chapter 1
The Classical
Variation
15
Chapter la
Flexibility in
the Classical
Variation
In the late nineteenth century, positions where one side abandons the center
were considered to be dangerous and even lost for that side. The KID was an
irregular (and wrong! ) opening, according to the Classical Chess School .
hen came Aaron Nimzowitsch
who, together with the other "hy
per-modernists", gave new meaning
and understanding to positions with
the so-called small center.
This pawn structure in the
Classical arises after the moves:
17
Bologan
ll . . . Qb6
Black targets both the knight
on d4 and the pawn on b2 , forcing
White to retreat the knight to a
worse position. It was because of this
idea that Bologan decided to give the
line a new try.
12.Nb3
Six months prior to this game
Bologan suffered a defeat after
the tricky 12.Na4. His opponent
Alexander Beliavsky managed to
extract some advantage from the
opening. However, Black had ways of
improving his play:
18
b2 1 1 )
18 . . . Bg4
19.Qd2
Rh5
12 . . . a5
Black wins space on the queen's
flank with tempos .
13. Qd2
We will look at 1 3 . Na4 Qb4 in the
next game, Elj anov-Bologan, S ibenik
2010.
15. Nd4
This was
the
novelty that
Beliavsky had prepared for the game.
b1) Now
one
possibility
is
13 ... Qc7 14 .Qd2 (Black will achieve
15. . . Nc5
16 .Nc3 a5 17.Nb3:t.
b2) But 13 ... Ne5 is best in the
above diagram. Now, after 14 . Nc3:
b2 1) The central release which
Bologan tried did not work: 14 . . . d5?!
15.cxd5 cxd5 16 . Bb5 Bd7 17. Bxe5
Rxe5 18.f4 and now:
Chapter la: Flexibility in the Classical Variation
19
16. Rfdl
16.Rabl!? is an alternative for
White. Still, after 16 . . . Nfd7 17.b4 axb3
18.axb3 Be5 19.b4 Ne6 20.f4 Black
can trade a pair of pieces: 20 . . . Bxd4!
1 6. . . Nfd7 1 7. Rabl
With 17.Bfl White can try to
defend the king's flank in advance.
17... Be5 A semi-provoking move, as
Black would love to see the white
pawn advance to f4 , leaving it.s
colleague on e4 vulnerable.
b) 19. Bf2
1 7 Be5
...
Provoking White's
Unclear is 17 . . . Qa5oo.
next
move.
21
18.(4
This move drives away the bishop
from its active location, but weakens
the e4 pawn.
A safer alternative is 18.Bf2 Qe7
19. Bfl . However, after the already
standard idea 19 . . . Nf8 ! 20.b4 axb3
2l.axb3:
a) 2l ... Ra3 22 .Qc2 Nfe6 2 3 . Nde2
Nf4?! (Only this is a mistake. Better
was 23 . . . Qf6!?"?.) 24.Nxf4 Bxf4 25 .b4
Ne6 26.Rd3:t, Van Wely- Shchekachev,
Bastia 2010.
b) Black could have solved all
his problems with the other typical
blockading idea: 2 l . . . Nfe6 22.Nde2
Qf6 23 .b4 Na4 24.Nxa4 Rxa4 25.Be3
g5=.
22
20 . . . Qf8
2 6 . Nxf3 RedS = .
23. b4
Postny.)
20. Rel
23
28 . . . Nb6/
The King's Indian Spirit!
Black sacrifices a piece for only
two pawns. However, these pawns
will be well supported by both bish
ops and the heavy pieces.
Also possible is 23... Na4 24.Nxa4
Rxa4 25.Qc2;!;.
Nxe8
29.fxg5
29.g3 b5 highlights the weak
ened third rank, while 29.e5 gxf4
30.Ne4 Rxe5 3 1.Qxc4 Be6 32.Qc2
Qe7 33.Nxf4 Ba2 34.Rb2 Bd5, given
by Bologan, leads to a complete mess.
80 . . . Rb8
After 30... Qc5 Bologan gives the
following line: 3l.Rfl Rf8 32.Qd2 b5
24
35. Qdl
One wild line is 3 5 . Ned4 Bxf5
36.Nxf5 Ral 37.Qxa l Bxa l 3 8 . Rxal
b4 39. Be2 ! c3 40. Bc4 Qb8 4l.Bb3
c5 42.e5 c4 43. Bxc4 c2 44.h3 Qa7
45.Rcl Qd7 46.Nh6+ Kg7 47. Bb3
Qd2 48. Rxc2 Qel+ 49.Kh2 Qxe5+
50.g3 Qxg5 5 l . Nxf7 Qe3 =.
41.Nxe6 Ral
43. Rxal clQ+!
42. Qxal
Bxal
35. . . c5?
Both opponents went into time
trouble, with unavoidable mistakes.
Better was 35 ... Ral 36 .Qxal
Bxal 37.Rxal Qd8 38 .h4 b4 39. Nh6+
Kf8 40.Nxf7 Qb6 4 l . Ne5 b3 42. Nf4
Ke7 43.Nxe6 b2 44.Rbl Qe3 4 5 . Nd4
Qcl+ 46.Rxcl bxclQ+ 47. Kh2 c5
48.g6 hxg6 49.Nxg6+ Kf7 50. Nf4+
Kg8 5l.Nde2 Qel 52 . Nd5=.
36. Nh6+
36.Rfl ! .
36 . . . Kh8 ?
3 6 . . . Kg7 37.Qd2 b 4 3 8 . Nf4 Qd6
39.Nxe6+ fxe6 40.Qf2 Rf8 4 l . Nf7 c3
42 .Qh4 Qd4 43 . Nxe5 Qxe5 44. Bg4 h5
45 .gxh6+ Kh8 46.h3 Rf6oo.
38. Qd2
Fier misses a golden opportunity:
38.Nxf7+ Bxf7 39.Bxf7 Ral 40.Nc l
Qxg5 4l.g3+-.
25
2 EJjanov - Bologan
14 . . . Nc5
Definitely playable, and Black en
joys a good game after this move.
However, from a theoretical point
of view, Black's problems are easily
solved with the standard 14 d5!
..
13. Na4
And here, instead of allowing the
a-pawn to advance, he tries to force
the queen's retreat with tempo. The
drawback of this move is that the
knight is misplaced on the edge of
the board, and does not sufficiently
control the center.
Note that White cannot take the
d-pawn: 13.Qxd6? a4 14.c5 Qb4 15.Qd4
Qxd4 16.Nxd4 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxd4+.
13 .Qd2 was the course of the pre
vious game, Fier-Bologan, Moscow
2011.
15. Nd3!N
15
...
Qxa4 1 6. b3 Nfxe4!!
27
1 7. bxa4
1 7. . . Nc3
The point behind Black's idea. He
wants the e2 bishop, not the one on
g5 .
Less good is 17 . . . Nxg5?! 18.Rbl
Bf5 19.Nxc5 (after 19.g4!? Bxd3
18. Qcl!
19...Be6!
I suspect that Bologan did not
even consider throwing away his
bishop for the miserable rook on
al! 19 . . . Bxa l 20.Rxal b6 2 l . Nf2
f5
22.Qb2
would
see
White
consolidating, and building an attack
on the dark squares.
20.Nxc5
Or 20.Rael Bxc4 2 l . Nxc5 dxc5
22 .Qxc5 Ba6iii , where the white rooks
are out of play.
21 . . . Nc3!
Once again scorning the rook.
Indeed, the line 2 1 . . . Bxal 2 2 . Rxal
Nd4 2 3 . Bf6 should be avoided!
22. Rae1
22 . . .Nxa2
The other pawn was also yummy:
22 . . . Nxa4 23 .Qb3 b5! 24. Rxe6 Rxe6
25.cxb5 Nb6 26.bxc6 Rxc6 27.Qb5
Rac8 28 .Qxa5 c4 29.Rbl Nd7 30.Qa7
Nf8iii . In fact, it is only Black who can
play for a win here!
29
24 . . . Nb4!
Also possible is 24 . . . Nc3 !? with
counterplay.
32. Qxe5 c2
28. bxc6?!
Returning the favor.
Better was 28 .Qxc4! cxb5 29.Qxb5
Reb8 30.Qe2 Rb2 3 l .Qdl.
28. . . c3
33. h4 Nb4
Or 33 . . . Rac8 34 .h5 g5 3 5 . Kh2 Nf4
3 6 . Re3 Rc5 37.Qb2 Bf5 38 .Qb6 Be6=.
34. Rc3
Rxc3
35. Qxc3
36. Qd2 h5 37. Kh2 Bf5
Much more subtle than 28 ... Rec8
29.Rcl Bf8 30.Raal Rxc6 3 l . Rxc4
Nc3 32.Rxc3 Rxc3 3 3 . Bf6 Rc4
34.Bb2.
29. Rcl
If
29. Bg3
then
29 . . . Rac 8 !
ReS
g3
38.g4!
The only way to generate counter
play, but a sufficient one.
41.Qxa5Na2
No better was 4 1 . . . Nd3 42 .Qa6
Rc3 43 .Qf6 = .
42.Qa6 Bg4 ?!
It was time to accept the draw
with 42 . . . Rc3 43 .QaS+ Kg7 44 .Qd5
Nxcl 45.Qd4+ KgS 46 .Qxc3 Bdl
47.QcS+=.
43.Qxc8+
Suddenly, Bologan needs to show
some technique to prove the draw.
He does it successfully, though.
31
Aggressive
development:
ll.Bf4
3 Premnath - Kokarev
13. Nc2
l l . . . Nh5!
l l . . .Ne5 12 .Qd2 is a playable
alternative, but Black can and should
show activity at once.
12. Bxd6
The only way to prove that White's
previous move was not a mere waste
of time is to accept the sacrifice.
Alternatively, 1 2 . Be3?! f5 (worth
considering are both 12 . . . a5!? and
12 . . Qh4!?) 13 .Qd2 f4 14 . Bf2 Be5?
saw Black achieving a comfortable
position in Lautier-Piket, Adelaide
1988.
.
12 . . . Qf6!
32
15. Bxc5?
13 . . . Nf4 14. c5
With the white knight on c2 , Black
has one more idea up his sleeve.
Kokarev had pleasant experience
after 14.B:x:f4 Qxf4 1 5 .g3 Qh6 16.Qc1
Qxc1 17. Raxcl f5. Aupov-Kokarev,
Kazan 2 0 0 1 . As in the game Franco
Ocampos-Damlj a novic, it is only
Black who can play for the win.
Lerner-Kuzmin, Alushta 1992 ,
continued 14.Rf2 (similar would
be 14.Rel) 14 . . . Nxe2 1 5 . Rxe2 Ne5
16.Ne3 Be6 17.c5 b6 1 8 . Ned5 cxd5
19.Bxe5 Qxe5 2 0 . exd5 Qf5 2 l . dxe6
Rxe6 22 .cxb6 axb6 2 3 . Rxe6 Qxe6
24.Qd2 Qc4 2 5 . a3 Bxc3 Y:.!- 2 .
14 . Nxc5/
..
33
is
25 .Qc1
15. . . Qg51+
Double attack. Black recovers the
pawn, and has the bishop pair for
free.
34
29. Ne3
Rxa2
30. Kgl
B,
31. Bxg7 Kxg7 32.(4 gxf4 33.g"
a5 34. e5 a4 35. c4 a3 36. c5 R
37. Nc4 Rg2+ 38. Khl a2 39.
Rc2 40.(6+ Kh6 41.Nd6 Be6 0-
The prophylactic
ll.Nc2
4 Kovalenko - Kokarev
12. Bg5
Insisting on his idea to stop d6 d5 forever. As usual, though, this
bishop has a wide choice of squares
for development:
12.Bf4 should be met with
12 . . . Be6 13 . Na3 (or 13.Ne3 d5=)
13 . . . Nh5! and now :
a) It appears that the d6 pawn is
poisoned: 14 . Bxd6 NcB ! 15.Bb4 Qg5
16.Qcl
ll. . . Nb 6
All these considerations, though,
are overpowered by the fact that
White loses precious time. Therefore,
we should try to prepare d6-d5
at once. Please note also that the
retreat of the d4 Knight has left the
e6 square in Black's hands, and the
bishop would not mind arriving there
with a tempo.
l l . . . Ne5 is not the best square
for the knight , as the line 1 2 . Be3
Be6 13 .b3 d5?! 14 . B d4 ! proves
35
1 5 . a4
d5
16 . . . Bxd5
12
...
Be6
For example:
a1) 14 .cxd5 cxd5
15.e5 Nfd7
16.f4 f6 17.exf6 Nxf6 18.Rc1 (18.Bd4
36
lh-lh, Huzman-Yurtaev,
1987.
White
has
no
Tashkent
winning
37
13. Ne3
This move does not pose any prob
lems for Black.
The bad news comes after 13.b3!t.
when White stabilizes the situation
and Black finds it hard to advance in
the center: 13 . . . h6 14 .Be3 d5?! 15.cxd5
cxd5 16.e5 Nfd7 17.f4 a6 (17. . . {6
13 . . . h6
14.Bh4
g5
15. Bf2
d51= 16. cxd5 cxd5 1 7. e5 Nfd7
18.Nexd5 Nxd5 19.Nxd5 Nxe5+
38
5 Kramnik - Ponomariov
ll. Be3
Still, Kramnik shows some
quality prep, and this line might
be Black's main source of concern
nowadays. Despite the fact that the
bishop stays on the file of the e8 rook,
it is surprisingly difficult for Black to
make use of this.
White has one more prophylactic
retreat in his disposal, l l . Nb3 . But
here, the knight simply invites the
black a-pawn to advance with tempo,
starting with ll . . . a5. Note that the
pawn on d6 is not delicious at all :
1 2 . Qxd6 a4 1 3 . Nd2 (Even worse is
39
ll
. . .
a6
now:
bl) The f7 pawn can become vul
nerable after White plays 14 .Bf4!
bll) 14 ... Nh5?
15.Bd6!
Qh4
(15 . . . Re6 16. Bc4 ) 16 . Nc7 Be5
(16. . . Re5 1 7. Qe1+-) 17. Bxe5 Rxe5
1 8 . Nxa8 Ng3+ 19.Kgl Nxfl 20.Qxfl
Rh5 2 l .h3+-.
b12) 14 ... Nc5 1 5 . Nc7 Bf5 16 .Qxd8
Raxd8 17. Nxe8 Rxe 8 . The exchange
is stronger here, as White can m ake
use of the open files for his Rooks,
in Rakhmanov-Kokarev, Voronezh
2010.
b2) Or even after White instead
plays the aggressive 14 .fxe4 Nxe4
1 5 . Rxf7 !
Nxc3
(not 15. . . Kxf7??
16. Bc4++-) 16 .Qb3 K h 8 17. Rxg7
Kxg7 1 8 . Qxc3+ Nf6 19. Bf3 , White
has excellent compensation for the
exchange ( Postny).
Ponom a riov liked the Grischuk
style provoking idea of l l Nh5 ,
but I a m not quit e convinced after
1 2 . g4 ! N h f6 1 3 . Q d 2 h5 14 . g5 Nh7
1 5 . N b 3 Qe7 16 . Ra d l Be5 17.f4 ! :
. . .
and now:
bl) 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.exd5 (This time
41
12.Nc2
Ponomariov writes: "Judging by
the times, I think here Vladimir
started to play on his own resources.
"The move he played is quite
ambitious; he emphasizes the main
weakness of the black position, the
weak pawn on d6. But at the same
time, without positional grounds,
White retreats his knight from the
center.
"However, at the board it is im
possible to calculate every line and
the choice is about one's confidence
in one's own strengths."
If 12.Qd2 , Black shows that the
move a7-a6 is not played solely to
prepare the b7-b5 advance: 12 . . . d5!
13.exd5 cxd5 14 .cxd5 (or 14.Nxd5
12 . . . Ne5
Active play is required, as usual,
to prevent White from developing
harmoniously. Do not forget that
fundamentally, White has the better
. .
13.{4
The principled move. However
now, as we know, the e4 paw n
becomes a target, too.
White can play more solidly
with 13.Qd2 , but then Black can
successfully hit the center with
14 . . . h5
Once more, Ponomariov gives a
clear explanation of the situation:
"The last three moves are reminis
cent of the Modern Benoni. Black
is prepared to sacrifice a knight for
active play."
If 14 . . . Qe7 then 1 5 . Bf3;!;, but not
15 .h3?! Nh5 ! with the idea of 16 . Bxg4?
Ng3+ 17.Kh2 Nxfl+ 1 8 .Qxfl Bxg4
19.hxg4 Qh4 mate.
Slow is 14 . . . b5?!
15 .c5 dxc5
16 . Bxc5.
it's a messy position in which Black
seems OK. After 16.e5:
a) 16 ... dxc4!? looks like a per
ceptive piece sac: 17.exf6 Nxe3
18.Qxe3 (lB. QxdB RaxdB 19.Nxe3
15. Bf3
Here the direct attempt 15 .h3
will unleash the power of the black
pieces:
15 . . . Nxe4 !
16 . Nxe4 Rxe4
17.hxg4 Qh4+ 1 8 . Bh2 hxg4 19.g3
Qe7 2 0 . Bd3 Bf5 ! (or 20 . . . b5! and the
white king is quite unsafe) with the
idea 2 1 . Bxe4? Qxe4+ 2 2 . Kgl Qxc2 -+.
15. . . Be6
43
16. b8
Most of the annotators considered
this move to be dubious.
They suggested instead 16.Qd3!
as the best move. Indeed, it seems
Black might have some issues here,
but a detailed analysis shows some
good ways for Black to counterattack:
16 ... b5 and now we look at two
replies:
After 17.cxb5 axb5
18. Rfd l
(JB.Radl ? Bc4 +)
18 ...d 5 !
19.e5
Nd7 20.Nd4 , Black needs to ruin
the opponent's center: 20 . . . Ngxe5 !
2 1 .fxe5 Nxe5 22 .Qd2 Bd7 (22 . . . b4
28.Nce2 Qd6t,) 23.a4 b4 24.Nce2 c5!
25.Bxd5 (25.Nb3 Nxf3 26.gxf3 Qf6+)
25 . . . cxd4 26.Bxa8 Qxa8 27.Nxd4 h4t.
Or 17.Rfdl Bh6 (The exchange
a) And
here
I
recommend
19 . . . gxf4 !
Thorough analysis will give you
good chances to score the whole
point, and here are some lines:
al) 2 0 .Bxg4 Bxg4 2 1 .bxc6 Nxe4
2 2 . Nxe4 Bf5 2 3 . Rel Qe7 24. Nb4
Qxe4+ 25 .Qxe4 Bxe4+ 2 6 . Rxe4
Rxe4=.
a2) 20.gxf4 axb5 2 1 .e5 (21. Qfl)
2 1 . . . Nd7 ! 2 2 . Bxc6 Bxf4 .
a21) 2 3 . Bxa8 Bxh2 24.Bg2 Bxgl
2 5 . Kxgl Qh4 26.Qh3 Qf2+ 27.Khl
Qxc2 28 .Qxh5 Nf2+ 29.Kgl Nxd l
30.Rxdl Nxe5=.
a22) 23 .Qf3 ReB 24 .exd6 Nde5
2 5 .Qxf4 Rxc6 = .
b ) 19 . . . axb5 seems less subtle, a s
i t provides White time to consolidate
the position, although it might be
playable as well.
1 6. . . Qa5
Black
now
starts
creating
concrete problems, and the positions
become extremely sharp.
1 7. Qel
Ponomariov considers this dubi
ous, and had not even considered it
during the game. Indeed, the queen
now steps onto the file of the black
rook, and this gives Black some addi
tional tactical chances .
44
17
. . .
b5?
45
18 ... b4 19.Na4
19 ...Bc4 ?
Ponomariov: "after which White has
very serious problems with the e4
pawn. But such retreating moves
are not so easy for a human to see,
especially when the queen has only
recently come from d8 . Instead of
this, I played another natural move,
keeping the tension."
Ponomariov's line might continue
19.Rdl Nxe4 20.Nxe4 Bxe4 2 1 . Bxe4
Nf6+.
18.c5?
Kramnik misses a good chance to
consolidate his position with 18.h3!
and now:
18 bxc4
19.Nd4!
(19. hxg4 ?
46
20. Qxb4!
Kramnik has a great sense of
danger, and here he immediately
understood that parting with the
exchange is the lesser evil for him
than allowing Black to have the
initiative with queens on the board.
Now the endgame is difficult for
Black.
23. Nb6!
Much better than the move which
Black expected, 23 .cxd6 Rad8:
24. Bxe4
2 5 . Bc5
Ne3
Rxe4
(25 ... Bf8 !? 2 6 . Nxc6 Rxd6 27. Bxd6
Bxd6) 26.Rgl Re6 27.Nxc6 Rdxd6
28.Bxd6 Rxd6+.
24.d7 Rxd7 2 5 . Bxe4 Rxe4 2 6 . Nc5
Rxb4 27. Nxd7 Bd4=.
23 . . . Ra7
'!?' Ponomariov.
Black will have to return the ex
change anyway: 23 . . . dxc5 24.Nxc6;!;.
25. Bxc6!
Kramnik has achieved what he
wanted. His endgame technique is
legendary, and though he faced one of
the greatest defenders in the world,
he managed to crack his defense.
Watch out for such endgames, they
are always very difficult for Black! I
will cite Ponomariov's analysis, as it
gives a very clear picture of what is
going on for the rest of the game.
Black's play would be easier after
2 5 . Nc4:
25 . . . Nxc4 2 6 . Bxa7 Nd2 27. Bxc6
(27. Rdl Nxf3 28.gxf3 Ne3 +!) 27 . . . Re7 !
2 8 . Bc5 Re6 29.Rcl (29.Rdl B{B!)
29 . . . Bb2 3 0 . Rd l Ba3 3 l . Bf3 Nxf3
32 .gxf3 Nf2+ 3 3 . Bxf2 Bxb4+!. and
because of his weak pawns, it is quite
hard for White to realize his small
material advantage.
Less clear is 25 . . . Rae7 !? 26.Nxd6
Rel 27. Rxel Rxel 28 .h3 Bd4 29.hxg4
hxg4 30. Bxg4 Bxgl 3 l . Nd3 Ral
3 2 . Nc400
47
26 . . . Nc8
"Almost unnoticed, the black
knight has retreated from the center
to the edge of the board, whilst White
has brought his knight from a4 into
the center! "
27. h3 Nh6 ?
Ponomariov: "I was still too
optimistic, and hoped to seize the
initiative, although after his latest
knight maneuvers, Black should be a
little careful.
"Otherwise I would of course have
played 27 . . . a5!;!; with good drawing
chances, eg. 28.hxg4 (28.Nd3 Nh6)
28 . . . axb4:
29. Bxa7 Nxa7 30.Nxb4 Nxc6
31.Nxc6 Rxa2 32.gxh5 Rc2 3 3 . Ne7+
Kf8 34.Nd5 Rd2 .
29.Nxb4 hxg4 30.Bb5 Re4 3 1 . Rcl
Nd6 32.Bxa7 Nxb5 33 .Bc5 Rxf4
34.Nd5 Re4 35.a4 Nd4+!."
28. Rcl!
33. Kg3!
28 . . . Nf5
To his horror, Ponomariov "real
ized that in the tactics , White can
take the NcB with check, after which
the Ra7 becomes undefendable. At
48
37.gxh5
37. . . Nd6
Here too, there was the more
tenacious 37 . . . gxh5 3 8 . Rgl+ Kh6 and
in any event, White cannot play for a
direct attack: 39.Nd3?! Rd2 ! 40.Ke3
Rh2 41.Ne5?? Bc5+.
An early deviation:
10.Nc2
6 Nyzhnyk
Kazhgaleyev
1 0. . . Na6/ l l . Be3
49
ll. . . d5!
Tilicheev-Vorobiov, Moscow 2 0 1 1 .
b ) More resilient is 1S. Nb4! a 5
19.Na6 R d 3 (or 19. . . Bxb2 20.Rabl
Be5=) 2 0 . Nc5 (also 20.Bxa7 Bxb2
21.Rabl Be5=) 20 . . . Rxe3 2 1 . Nxa4
Re2.
13...Nb4!
The logical follow up.
Black has had good results
after 13 Bf5, but it seems like the
position of the knight on a6 might
.
51
16. . . Qa5
Not a bad square for the queen.
Black has other reasonable options,
too:
16 Bd7!? Simple development.
17.Qd2 ReS 18.Radl (White cannot
14.Nxb4
Or else Black's position is even
more pleasant after 14.Bf2 Nbxd5
15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16 . Bb5 Rf8+.
16.Khl
52
23 . . . Kh7?!
30. Rxd7
32. Ne 7!
Qxd7
31. Ned5
Bb7
53
Development
without preparation:
10.Be8
7 Shankland
Vorobiov
10. Be8
No prophylaxis, no need to
stop Nb8-d7, nada. Therefore, we
demonstrate that such a flighty
approach against the KID cannot be
recommended.
10. . . d51
Of course, Black makes use of the
fact that the bishop on e3 is hanging,
and clarifies the situation in the
center.
This is an immediate equalizer,
and it is quite surprising that a
strong GM and good theoretician
like J. Gustafsson is still trying
to extricate something out of this
line for White . Probably he already
54
ll.cxd5 Nxd5!
Black frees his position a bit by
trading a pair of knights, and at the
same time opens the diagonal for his
king's bishop.
Weaker is ll . . . cxd5, although a
recent grandmaster game saw Black
equalizing after 1 2 .Qb3 Nc6 1 3 . Radl
Qa5 14 .Qb5 (White could pose more
14 . . . Nc 6 !
1 5 .Qxd5
Re5
1 6 . Bxc6
55
13
. .
Nc6!
56
14.Nxc6
24. Re2 ?
wants
to have his
24 . . . Rxe2 ?
But missed it . . .
Correct was 2 4 . . . Rd l ! 25 .h3 Bb3
57
Minor alternatives
10.Nb3 and 10.Bg5
8 Lakdawala - Yermolinsky
2009
IO. . . a5!
IO. Nb3
In this game we shall have a look
at a couple of minor alternatives for
White. As you can see, the featured
game is quite old, and this is an in
dication that there are not too many
volunteers following in the footsteps
of the first player.
The move Nd4-b3 is also prophylac
tic; it opens the file for the queen, pre
venting d6-d5. The drawback is that it
allows another typical counter-move.
White has also tried the immedi
ate 10.Bg5. After 10 Qb6 we look
at two replies:
Note that White might like to
force a draw with l l .Be3 Qxb2
12.Na4 Qa3 13.Bcl Qb4 14 .Bd2 Qa3
15.Bcl Qb4 16 .Bd2 Qa3 lh-lh, in
Ivkov-Larsen, Belgrade 1964.
l l.Na4 Qa5 12 .Bd2 Qc7 (also
l l . a4
If White wants to fight for an ad
vantage, he needs to continue with
the artificial l l . Na4 . But Black can
exploit this set up with ll . . . c5!? as
there is no one to attack the b5 and
d5 squares. Play may continue 1 2 . Rbl
Bd7 13.Nc3 a4 14 .Nal and here I be
lieve Black's best is 14 . . . Nc6, and now:
was
2 3 . Nxc5
dxc 5
23 . . . d5!
ll . . . Be6
Even better is ll ... Qb6+ 12 .Khl
25.Bxd3
is
the
stronger
59
Memory Markers
Here are reminders of some of the ideas and motifs in this chapter, which
include queen sacrifices, breaking open the center, knight outposts , and
blockading. Giving up the center opens up many possibilities !
sition.
4. After 18 ...Nf6xe4!.
60
Typical
queen sacrifice, see diagram on
page 28 in Elj anov-Bologan.
5. After l l ...Nf6-h5!.
Active
play against the bishop sortie
on f4, text move in Premnath
Kokarev, page 32.
13 ..Na6-b4!.
Black
square compensation, see text
move in Nyzhnyk-Kazhgaleyev,
on page 5 1 .
8. After
61
Active
play in the center. See diagram
on page 55 in Shankland
Vorobiov.
62
Exercises
Black to play!
with these situations from actual games, you, as Black, can practice finding
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
C obb - Grossett
Young - Yermolinsky
63
Exercise 4
Exercise 3
Zude
Hoelz l - Szilagyi
Graf
Bundesliga 2004
Budapest 1988
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Keipo - Perez
Zakharov - Yurtaev
Cuba 2000
64
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Trmal - Michalek
Littleton - Boey
Czechia 2009
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Kolev - Rasik
Korotylev - Kokarev
Budapest 1993
Serpukhov 2007
Once again,
squares!
superiority on black
65
Exercise 11
Wirig - Vaisser
Caen 2011
A pleasant choice . . .
66
Chapter l b
The Gligoric
System
he prominent Yugoslavian GM
Svetozar Gligoric had a great
impact on the development
of the King's Indian Defense and
advanced it to the highest levels. He
gave to the world the Mar del Plata
Line, as well as the famous Rf8 -f4!
positional exchange sacrifice which
is a common theme in almost every
KID line, and tons of model games
which I recommend to any player
who wants to make the KID part of
his/her life!
Still, as a universal player, he
also needed to fight against his
beloved defense and he did so in a
very dangerous way. The featured
set-up is named after him.
1 Popov
Giri
Russian Championship,
Olginka 2011
l.Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4.Nc3
0- 0 5. e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7. Be3
67
7. . . exd4
10. Qd2
8.Nxd4
ReB
9.(3
c6
10. . d5!
.
68
2008.
b) For better or worse, White
needs to try 1 3 . Bf2 although here,
too,
Black
is
doing
great
after
San
Sebastian
2012.
12 Nc6 13. c5
. . .
13 . . . Qa5N
69
14.Qxe3 Qf8!
70
16.Bb5.
The two correspondence games
saw another approach with 14 a6!?:
71
72
19. Bc2
White misses a chance to obtain a
large advantage.
Instead, the maneuver 19.Bbl!
the d5 pawn:
Nxd5 2 2 . Bxg7
73
2 O nischuk - Bacrot
13 . . . Re51?
10 . . . d5/
Anyway!
Whenever the opportunity arises,
remember?
74
75
a1) 20.Bxb5
Bd7
2 l . Bfl
Nf5
23 .Qc3 Nfe3:
76
14. Bb5
22 . . . Ne5! 23.fxe5 Qxc 7+.) 2 2 . Bxf5
axb5 23. Be4 (After 23. Bxe6 Qxe 6
24. Bxd4 RedB 25. Qf2 Rxa2, Black
is at least not worse.) 2 3 . . . Qxc5
(23 ... Bg4!? 24. Rel Qxc5=) 2 4 . Bxd4
Nxd4 2 5 . Qxd4 Qxd4+ 2 6 . Rxd4
Rxa2 27. Rxa2 Bxa2 2 8 . Bxb7=,
Gelfand-Van Wely, Wij k aan Zee
1996.
e) Finally, 17. Bfl allows the
already standard idea 17 . . . Bxd4
18.Bxd4 Nxd4 19.Qxd4 Nf5 20.Qf2 d4
2l.Nb5 Qe7 2 2 . Nxd4 Qxc5 2 3 . Nxe6
Qxf2+ 24.Kxf2 Rxe6 2 5 . Rd7 Rd6
Onischuk starts immediate play
on the queen's flank, trying to ob
struct Black's ideas . This position is
extremely fresh.
77
a l l ) Sasikiran
retreated
the
rook with 15 . . . Re7, perhaps fear
ing Nd4-b5 with possible forks.
The game continued 16 .Bf3 Rxe1+
17.Qxe1 Bg4 18.Qd1 (In case of
White
continued
with
15.Rad1
78
Ng3+!
2Z hxg3
22 .cxd6
Bd4+
2 3 . Kh l Nf2+=.
a122) 17. Na4 Bf5 1 8 . Nc7 Rxe2
19.Qxe2 Rb8 2 0 . Nb5 Ne4.
In both these lines we see
Kasparov's idea in practice.
a2) Predojevic
suggested
an
improvement for White in Chess
Evolution, November 2 0 1 1 : 15.a3
Bd7 16 . Ndb5 , but I feel that things
are not so scary for Black, and he can
try a move which was not suggested
by the Bosnian GM : 16 . . . Rd8 !? when
17. Nd6 Ne8 1 8 . Nxb7?! is effectively
answered by 18 . . . Rb8+.
a3) The most recent attempt to
get something out of the position was
made by Volkov: 1 5 . Ncb5 Bd7
in which Black
sacrifices the exchange:
a 1 2 1 ) 17. Nxd4
Rd8
1 8 . Qa4
Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Rxd4 ! 2 0 . Qxd4 Ng4 !
and now White needs to settle for
a draw with 2 1 .Qd6 (Or, if he likes,
79
80
81
15 . . . Rc81?
1 6. . . Rxel+
1 7. Rxel
18. Bxd4 Bc6=
Nxd4
16.Rfel
Soon after Bacrot showed his nov
elty, Shulman tried to improve upon
his compatriot's play with 16.Radl!?
Here I like Predojevic's 16 a6!?
22. Qd2 ?
White misses a maneuver and
loses a pawn. Better was 2 2 . Nxd5
Chapter lb: The Gligoric System
83
40 . . . g4
29. . . d4
Allowing White the King activi
ty with 29 . . . Kg7 30.Ke3 Kf6 3 1 . Kd4
Ne6+ 32.Bxe6 fxe6 33.Kc5 might
have been his best chance for a win.
Bxa2
Memory Markers
Here are reminders of some of the ideas and motifs in the Gligoric System.
16 ... Rb8xb2!!.
Attacking the king in the center,
see diagram on page 6 8 in
Popov-Giri .
2. After
85
86
See diagram on
Onischuk-Bacrot.
page
75
in
Exercises
Black to play!
With these situations from actual games, you can find some ideas and
opportunities that may await you, as Black, when facing the Gligoric System.
Solutions to these exercises begin on page 3 1 2 .
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
S erralta - Rabineau
87
Exercise 3
S ergeev - O sinovsky
S asikiran - Konguvel
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Obukhov - S ergeev
Bedic - Marku n
Slovenian Championship
Kranj 1999
88
Exercise 4
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Miles - Nu nn
. D annevig - Vladimirov
89
Chapter l c
The Exchange
System
In the Classical system , the first player can choose not to maintain the
pre s sure in the center but to swap central pawns instead, reaching the
Exchange System.
91
Mchedlishvili - Jobava
8. Qxd8 Rxd8
92
9. Bg5
This is the only move that can
cause any trouble for Black.
Note that White cannot win a
pawn with 9.Nxe5 Nxe4 10. Nxe4
(not 10.Nxf7?? Bxc3+-+) 10 . . . Bxe5
1 l . Bg5 ReS . Even the dark-squared
bishop is not as tasty as usual in this
situation: 1 2 . Nf6+ Bxf6 1 3 . Bxf6 Bf5
14 .Rd1 Na6 !?
9 Na6/?
. . .
IO.Nd5
Consistent.
10.Nxe5 is still possible and still
innocuous. We look at two possibilities:
93
10
. . .
Rd6
94
Bxf6
11.Nd2
Chapter lc: The Exchange System
95
96
The
acid
test
of the
line
is
12.Nxf6+!
97
b121) 19 ...Bf5
20.Rxa8
Bxd3
21.Rd8 Rc2+ 22.Kdl Rxb2 23.Rel
Rbl+ 24.Kd2 Rxel 25 .Kxel Bxc4
26.Rd7+, Miton-Smit, Pavlodar 1991.
b122) or 19 ... b6 20.Rel Rxel+
21.Nxel c5 22.Nc2 h5 2 3 . Ne3
Yakovich-Livner, Stockholm 2001.
b123) also 19 ... Kf7 20.Rel Rxel+
2l.Nxel b6 22.Nc2 h5 2 3 . Kd2 Ke7
24.Rh8 Bb7 25. Rh7+ Kd6 26.Nd4 .
b124) and
finally
19 . . . Kh6
20.Rel Rxel+ 2 l . Nxel b6 22.g3 Bb7
23.Rd7 ReS 24.Rf7 .
b13) 17. Bg4 was supposedly a
strong novelty but it seems to me
that the evaluation of the final po
sition given in Chess Informant is
completely wrong: 17 . . . fxe5 18 .b4 Rd6
19. Rxc8 Nd3+ 20.Kc2 Rxc8 2 l . Bxc8 .
98
15.0-0-0?!
1 5 . Bf3
{6
16.Nf3
15 . . . Rd6 !?
(better than
16. 0- 0 - 0 f6 1 7.Nd3 ).
(not
Rxe4+)
15 . . . Nc5
1 1 . . . c 6!
12.Nxf6+
Black looks great after 1 2 . Ne7+
Kf8 1 3 . Nxc8 Rxc8, with the idea of
Nc5 (c7)-e6-d4 .
13 . . . Bd8 ?!
Jobava wants to transfer the
bishop to a more active position.
Usually this is a good idea, but here
it allows the c4-c5 advance with the
knight still on a6.
A better idea seems to be the cool
13 . . . Nc7 14 .0-0-0 Ne6 1 5 . Nb3 Be7
16. Rxd6 Bxd6 =.
14. 0 - 0 - 0
with the idea 1 5 . Bf3 (or 15.0-0-0
18.Bxe4 Nc5 =.
14 . . . Be7
.. .
99
15.Nb8
Worthy of consideration is 15.c5!?
Two
energetic
moves
have
clarified the situation. Black will
keep his active light-squared bishop
on the board and bring the knight to
d4. He has also gained space on the
king's flank.
16. . . c5!
Brilliant! Even though Black
releases control over the d5 square, he
will be better! The difference comes
from the positions of the knights.
The black one can easily reach the
d4 point via different routes, which
we cannot say for its adversary.
17. h8 b6
Sets free the knight and prepares
Na6-b4 (b8)-c6 -d4! or Na6 -c7-e6-d4!
18. Bg4
If 18.a3 then
Ne6+.
18 . . . Nc7
19.Nd2
28 . . . (8!
Further unbalancing the position
for good.
Calm improvements were also
possible, for instance 23 . . . h5 followed
by the further advance of the king
side pawns.
100
32. Bg5
hxg4
33. Bxf6 gxf3
34.gxf3
Be2
35. Rg7+
Kf8
36. Rxg6 Bxf3 3 7. Rg 7 Bxe4+
38. Kcl Bd3 39. Rc7 Na5 40. Kdl
e4 0-1
101
Memory Markers
Here are reminders of some of the ideas and motifs in this chapter. There
are still some interesting possibilities in the Exchange System !
Nev
erov's exchange sacrifice. See di
agram on page 94.
4. After 13...Rd6xd5.
102
Trouble
on the long diagonal.
See
diagram on page 96.
6. After
move
in
16... c6-c5!.
Who's
Mchedlishvili-Jobava,
page 100.
103
Exercis es
Black to play!
With these situations from actual games, you can find some ideas and
opportunities that may await you, when facing the Exchange System.
Solutions to these exercises begin on page 3 17.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Wolske - Kubikova
Pardubice 1996
Cullera-B 2003
Tricks are rare but possible in the
Exchange line.
104
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Shankar - Saravanan
India Championship, Nagpur 1999
White wants
position.
to
consolidate
his
Vecindario 2010
The d-file is well covered and the
white rooks are useless. But how
about their black counterparts?
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Ritz - Neumeier
Olafsson - Danielsen
Wattens 1997
105
Chapter ld
The Petrosian
System
107
Topalov - Mamedyarov
Corus, Wijk aan Zee 2008
I.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg 7 4 . e4
0 - 0 5. Nf3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 a5
Our recommendation.
The line 7 . . . Na6 8 . Bg5 is also
logical and leads to equality if Black
knows what to do.
B.Bg5
This is how Petrosian handled
his system. Many years later it was
Vladimir Kramnik of Russia who
gave second life to White's concept.
But from the peak of the line's glory,
it's once again in decline.
8.0-0 NaG can lead to transposi
tions after 9.Bg5.
However, White can also try
9.Be3
1 09
9.Bh4
The pawn chains are fixed and
they show the directions in which
both sides will conduct their plans.
White has better pawns on the
queenside and should attack the
base of Black's pawn chain on this
side, and Black should do the same
on the kingside.
9.Be3 is still possible and is a
specialty of GM Zvj aginsev. Black is
doing fine by simply developing his
forces: 9 . . . Ng4 lO.Bcl Na6 1 1 .0-0
Nc5 12 .g3 ! ?
Black recovers the piece, but how
about the light squares? It seems
White is controlling them, thus
making the KID bishop a poor piece.
But Inarkiev finds a way to bring
this piece into the game: 17. Bd3 g4!
(preparing h6 -h5 -(h4) and to open
the cl-h6 diagonal for the bishop)
18.Be4 fxg3 19.hxg3 b6 20.Qd2 h5
2l.Nc2 h4 2 2 . gxh4? ! Qxh4 23 .g3
Qh5 24.Ne3.
...
Na6 1 0. 0 - 0
8 . . . h6
It is useful to clarify the white
bishop's diagonal.
110
12.Khl!?
A useful prophylactic
move.
Thanks to the efforts of Kramnik,
this move became White's main
choice. White is waiting for his
opponent to show his intentions and
111
1 12
18.Kh l .
Here, I like playing a-la Kotroni
as with 18 . . . h4 followed by Qe7-g5 ,
Kg8 -g7 and Nh7-f6 -h5 and you know
what happens afterwards.
However, 18 ... f5 was not bad at
all: 19.exf5 Bxf5 2 0 . Bd3 Nc5 2 l . Bxf5
gxf5 =, Simic-Brenjo, Kladovo 1994.
b) Or 15.Rb1 Be3+, in conjunction
with the covering move 16 . Bf2 .
I n this case Black i s happy to
trade, as his pawn center is situated
on the dark squares and White will
have only the passive light-squared
bishop left on the board. 16 . . . Bxf2+
17.Rxf2 Nc5 (17... h4!? followed by
the pressure:
12 . . . Nh7
Black frees his kingside pawns.
13. a3 h5
1 13
14.(3 Bh6
1 7. . . gxf5
1 7. exf5
1 14
18. b4
GM Igor Naumkin preferred
instead to trade his f-pawn for the
black h-pawn: 18.f4 exf4 19.Bxh5
Qe5 20.Ne2 . Practice shows, though,
that Black's activity compensates for
the doubled f-pawns with interest.
20 Nc5 and now :
21.Nf3?! is simply bad after
2 1 . . .Qg7 22 .g3 fxg3 2 3 . Nxg3 f4
24.Re1
a) 24 ... fxg3 2 5 . Rxe3 Qh6 -+.
b) That line was even better
than 24 . . . Nf6 2 5 . Bxf6D (not 25.Ng5?
.
R g8 + ? ,
Gershon-Antoniewski,
Mureck 1 9 9 8 .
2 0. . . Qg6!?
Mamedyarov transfers the queen
to a more active position.
Also possible is 2 0 . . . Rg8 ! ? 2 1 .Qe2
Qg6 2 2 . Rfd 1 Rae8 =, in Lalev
Petrushin, Pleven 1985.
25. . . Rg 7
After 25 . . . Ba4 2 6 . Bxf5 Bxd1
27.Rxd1 Bxh4 28.Qxh4 Qg5 29.Qh3
Nxb4 30. Nfg3 the strong e4 square
and the weak black king will provide
good compensation for White.
20;Bd3
Or
2 0 . Bf2
Bxf2
2 1 . Rxf2
h4
1 15
Memory Markers
Here are reminders of some of the ideas and motifs in the Petrosian System.
Activat
ing the KID bishop. See diagram
on page 1 12 .
3. After 14...Bg7-h6.
116
Activity
compensates for the doubled
f-pawns. See diagram on page
1 15 .
117
Exercis es
Black to play!
As Black, practice finding the right moves when facing the Petrosian
System.
Solutions to these exercises begin on page 3 2 1 .
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Goossens Schebler
Tukmakov Magerramov
118
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Torres - Strikovic
everything OK
queenside attack?
Is
with
White's
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Naumkin - Khalifman
Izquierdo - Navarro
1 19
Exercise 7
Straka - Rabatin
Valle - Di Berardino
120
Exercise 8
Chapter2
The Siimisch
Variation
121
8. Qxd8
White is behind in development,
so it makes sense for him to take the
queens off the board.
If White avoids the immediate
pawn gain with 8.e5 Nfd7 9.f4 , then
Black can open the game anyway
with 9 . . . f6! 10.exf6 Nxf6 ! l l . Bxc5 Bf5 .
Since the white pawns are on the c4
and f4 squares, white lacks sufficient
control over e4 and d4! 1 2 . Nf3 Ne4
13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14 .Ba3 Nc6 15.Be2
Nd4 16 .Nxd4 Bxd4+, Campos More
no-Mortensen, ECC 1991.
If White keeps the queens on
the board, he risks losing still more
tempos in the opening, and falling
under a devastating attack: 8.Bxc5
Nc6 9.Be3 Nd7 !
I O. Ba3
122
game 3 .
The other main alternative is
10.Nd5, which will lead us to our
next game, Krylov-Efimenko.
Since
Razuvaev- Shirov
1991,
10.Rdl is not very often played.
10 . . . Rxd1+ and now:
a) l l . Nxdl Nd7 ! (11 . . . b6 12.Ba3
Nd7 is also good.) 1 2 .Ba3 And now a
new method to attack the queenside
pawns: 12 . . . a5!
123
10
...
124
a5
ll. Rdl
With l l.Nd5?! White is playing
with fire: ll ... Nxd5 12.cxd5 Nb4!
125
ll . . . Be6
12.Nd5
Since the main line gains White
nothing, he might also try 12.Rxd8+
Rxd8 13.Nd5
126
Rxd8.
12 . . . Nb4!
13. Nxe7+
The game is conveniently opened
for Black after 1 3 . Nxb4? Rxdl+
14 .Kxd l axb4 1 5 . Bxb4 Rxa2+.
And after 13. Bxb4?! axb4 14. Nxb4
Nd7 15.Rd2 Nc5t, Black will soon
recover at least one pawn and enjoy
his mighty pieces .
127
16 . . . Nxa3 17.bxa3 .
1 7. Nh3
White hopes to finish his develop
ment behind the super-well-protect
ed knight in the center, but there
is a way to undermine it! 17 . . . b5!
128
The
Scottish
GM
Jonathan
Rowson tried to revive this line in
2004, but the KID expert Vasilios
Kotronias reacted the best possible
way: 17.a4 White wants to stabilize
the queen's flank and removes the
a3 pawn from the possible attack of
the dark-squared bishop. He is also
willing to use b5 to seal the b-file
with his own bishop.
Therefore: 17 . . . bxa4! (not 17. . . bxc4
19. Nb 6
Better
than
19.Nhf4?!
Bxd5
19 . c3 ?1
..
17 Rac8
.
Bxd5+
22.Bxd5?
Rxc2+
check!)
This is quite an entertaining
option indeed, but I would rather
you adopted a more restrained ap
proach: 19 Rxdl!N 20.Rxdl Rc6
21.Rd8+?! Now there will be no one
to guard the first rank: 2 l . . . Ng8
2 2 . Nd5 c3+.
Better is 21.Na4 c3 22 . Rcl Bxa2+,
and if 2 3 . Nxc3 then 23 . . . Nxe4+
24.fxe4 Bxc3.
129
20.Nxc8
22.Bb5
Rxc8
21. Ba6
Rc6
10.Nd5
10 . . . Nd7
A familiar idea, is it not? This is
probably Black's most used move in
the line . The bishop on g7 must be
freed, and it will be Black who is
the troublemaker. White now needs
to grab the pawn. Depending on
which piece takes on e7 we have two
completely different plans.
ll.Nxe7+
We look at the capture l l.Bxe7,
and the retreat l l.Ba3 on page 134.
With the other capture ll.Bxe7,
White pins his hopes on the stable
130
131
Levitt
132
Roquebourne,
Korchnoi-Polgar,
1992.) 2 l . Rc2 Ra3 2 2 . Nd1 Bg7
2 3 . N1c3 a6 2 4 . Nd1 f5 .
1 33
134
ll
..
135
White
has
an
alternative
in
choices:
15.Ba3:
13.Rbl
Weaker is 13. Bxd8 Bxa1 14 . Nh3
Bc3+ 15.Kdl Be5! preventing Nh3 f4-d5! 16 .Nf2 Nb6 17. Nd3 Bd4
18.Ncl (White needed to install the
13 . . . Bc3+
a) Now
15 ... Bg7
is
playable
but a bit slow. 16.Ne2 Nb6 17. Nf4
Rd8+ 18.Nd5 Be6 19. Bd3 (19. Kel!?)
19 . . . Rac8 20.Ke2 Nxc4 2 l . Be7 Rxd5
14. Kf2
136
c2) 18 . . . Bd4!?
19.Bc4+
Kh8
20.Nf3 (20.Bb5 Rxe4 21.Bxd7 Bxd7
22.Rxb7 Bf5) 20 . . . Bxc5 2 l . Ng5
Kg7oo.
c3) 18 . . . Nf6? 19.Bc4+ Kh8 20.e5
Ng4 2 l . Nf3=, Nenashev-Kasimdzha
nov, Namangan 2000.
14.. Re8
In this game Efimenko chose the
second most used move.
137
18.Nf4 ?
16. Bg5
f5N
1B.Bh4 f5 is
with the idea
hxg6, followed
strong attack.)
17. . . Na4
22 . . . Bd8!
138
26 . . . Nc8
Two
other
possibilities
2 6 . . . Rf8 !? and 2 6 . . . Rc2+!?.
are
Rf8-+.
30 . . . Rc8 81.Bb5 RfB 82. Be2
32 . . . Nc 6! 88.Rd8 Rxd8
Faster would have been 33 . . . Bb6+
34. Kg2 Rc2 3 5 . Rel Ba5.
Bd2
Ne5
85. Be2
34.Bxd8
36. Rbl Rf7 8 7. R b2 Bf4 88. Rc2
Nc6 89. Ba6 Bxd6 40. Bxb 7 Nd4
41. Rb2 Rxf8+ 42. Kg2 Rg8+
48. Kfl Rb8 44.Rd2 Rxb 7 0-1
Rad.jabov
1 0. . . b 6
Radjabov chooses the second most
popular move.
Black has usually opted for the
standard idea of chasing the bishop
with 10 Nd7 and this is also very
good for Black.
Now we look at three choices for
the first player: l l.Ba3 and l l.Be3
on the next page, and finally l l .Bf2
beginning on page 142 .
139
ll.Ba3.
140
b2) Nobody
has
ever
tried
14 .Nxe6 fxe6 1 5 . Rbl, where Black
has decent compensation for a pawn
after 15 . . . Nc2 16. Bg5 (or 16. Be2 Nxe3
13 . . . Be6!
Gelfand's
Black
should
follow
footprints.
(Weaker is
141
142
(2l.Rdl
Rxdl+
22.Nxdl
Nxc4 +)
2l...Rd7
2 2 . Ne8
(22. N7b5
a6)
22 ... Nxc4 2 3 . Nxg7 Kxg7=.
b2 112) 20.Kc2 White is seemingly
doing fine, but the following tactical
strike clarifies the situation in
Black's favor: 20 . . . Nxc4! 2 l . Bxd3
Ne3+ 2 2 . Kd2 Nc4+= and the first
player should settle for a draw, as
the line: 2 3 . Ke2 Nxb2 24.Bb5 Bxc3+
is favorable for Black only.
b2 12) 17. N7b5 Rb7
This time
the rook is transferred via the
seventh rank. The advantage of the
rook lift is the fact that the queen's
flank is now secured, which is not
the case with White's . 18.Be3 Or
else the bishop from g7 might like
to appear on the cl-h6 diagonal.
18 ... Rd7+ 19.Kcl Nbd3 + 20. Bxd3
Rxd3 2 l . Bd4 Bh6+ 2 2 . Kbl (or 22. Kc2
Rd2 + +) 22 . . . Nxc4=.
143
ll.Ba3 Bb7
144
12. Rdl
The "active" 1 2 . Nd5 only helped
Black develop the initiative: 12 . . . e6
13.Ne7+ Nxe7 14 . Bxe7 Rd7 1 5 . Bb4
ReS 16.Rc1 Bh6 17.Rc2 RcdSt,
Lev-Kraidman, Tel Aviv 1992 .
12 . . . a5N
13.Ncl
1 6. cxd5 e6
Now a forced line follows:
1 7. Bxb4
19. e7D
axb4
18. dxe6
Bxcl
145
19 . . . Rdc8
Once again not bad, but I also
fancy the line 19 ... Rxd3 20.Rxd3
21 . . . {5 ?
146
7. . . Qa5
B. Ncl
White forces the game into a
Maroczy structure.
There are other possibilities as
well. We examine 8.Qd2 here and
8.d5 on page 150.
147
148
is a later improvement.
12 . . . Qb4
13 .b3 e6 (If you are in a mood to
greedy:
149
B . . . cxd4
9. Nb3
9 . . . Qh 5 10.Nxd4 Nc 6
l l . Be2
Aftr the game, Caruana was not
totally convinced about the strength
of this inove.
Perhaps ll.Qd2 is better. But
in this case Black can reduce the
pieces in the center with ll Nxd4
I
I
150
for Black:
13.g3
13 . . . Qg5
Instead of this, Black needed to
place the queen on h3: 13 ... Qh3
151
the bishop returns, leaving the e4pawn vulnerable and the g4 square
open to invasion. Black has sufficient
counterplay." Caruana.
14. Kf2!
One more thought of Caruana
clarifies White's plan: "A strong
move, preparing to regroup with
Be3, Qd2 , Rcl and b3, when White
has organized his position and enjoys
a typical Maroczy bind. Instead,
castling would allow . . . Bh3 with gain
of tempo."
152
15 . . . Qa5
Even 15 ... Rfc8 16.b3 a6 17. a4 Nd7
18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.f4 Qc5+ 2 0 . Kg2 is
also a bit better for White.
he problem for Black is that he
has no active play and has to
wait and see what will happen
afterwards. This is not the type
of play that KID fans like to see.
Therefore, it makes sense to play
13 . . . Qh3 and employ the aggressive
novelty 14 . . . Bh6 !? in the annotation
after Black's thirteenth move.
1B . . . Nd7
Nf6 ?
19. Bxg 7
Kxg 7
20.{4
21. Bf3
23.g4!
RabB ?
22. Rel
RdB
5 Anand - Nakamura
6th Tal Memorial, Moscow 201 1
l . d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4 . e4
d6 5. Nge2
Anand chooses to enter the Sa
misch in this slightly unusual way.
Alternatively, White can also
achieve Benoni-style positions with
the "normal" move order 5.f3 0-0
6.Be3 c5 7.d5 e6
153
154
155
156
b41 2 1 ) The
game
Meulders
Douven , Netherlands 1991 con
tinued 15 . . . Nfd7 1 6 . Nf2 Nc4 (or
16 . . b4 1 7. Ncdl Nb 6 1B. Bh6)
17. Bxc4 bxc4 1 8 . f4 Rb8 1 9 . e 5 , and
at this stage of the game nothing
was clear at all.
b4122) Instead, a good idea for
Black is to complete his development
with 15 . . . Bd7 16 . Nf2
157
158
159
And now:
b4321) 16 . . . h3 !N
17.f4
(Unfor
tunately for White, 17.g3 Ng5 hits
painfully at the f3 pawn.) 17. . . hxg2
18.Rg1 Nd7 19.Bf3 Bxc3 20.bxc3
Ndf6 21 .Qc2 Bh3+ Rybka.
b4322) Also, the previously em
ployed 16 . . . Qg5 17.0-0 f5 18.Kh 1 f4
19.Nc4 Nxc4 20. Bxc4 Be5 2 1 .Qe1
Nh{B
17.Ne3
Ng6
18.Nf5
Be5+)
9.cxd5 h5
...
0- 0 6.(3 c5 7. d5 e 6 8.Ng3 a6
161
162
1 63
164
1 65
Instead,
Nakamura
proceeds
with the usual play on the queen's
flank, but I have the feeling that this
is not sufficient for equality, with the
stable white center.
14. 0- 0 c4
ll
..
Qc7
15. Be3!?
Or 15. Rab1 b5 16. axb5 axb5 17.b4
cxb3 18.Rxb3 b4 19.Na2, Grover
Ootes, Wijk aan Zee 2 0 1 2 .
166
21.a5 Qd8
1 7.Nf2!
22. Ne2
22 . . . Nh 7 28. Ng8 ?!
18 ... Nh5!?
Nakamura correctly provokes the
advance of the f-pawn at the moment
at which White is not yet ready to
support his central pawns.
20. . . Re8
2 7. Ne2
Qxd4
28.Nxd4 Bb7
29. Ra8 Nf6 8 0. Nc 6 Rbc8 81.Na5
B e c ause the line 3 1 . Nb 4 offers
Black good tactical chances with
3 1 . . . Nfd7 (or 31 . . . Rc5 32. Nxa6 Bxa 6
33. Rxa6 Rb5) 3 2 . Nxa6 c 3 ! 3 3 .bxc3
Nc4 , Anand decides to force a draw.
81 . . . Ba8 82. Nc 6
Ba8 %-%
Bb7
88.Na5
167
Bulgarian Championship,
Plovdiv 2008
I . d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 8.Nc8 Bg 7 4. e4
d6 5.f8 0 - 0 6. Bg5
7. Qd2
6. . . a6
168
7. . . Nbd7
Please note that the move order
1 69
8 . c5 9. d5
. .
B.Nh8
White uses the opportunity to
bring the knight into play via a
square which does not obstruct the
bishop.
Again, the knight is not well
placed on e2: 8.Nge2 c5,
. .
b5
1 0. Nf2
The text position is usually
achieved after a different move
order: 10.cxb5 Qa5 . However, White
might try something else, like 1 l . a4
(11.Nf2
1 3 . Nxf6+
Qxf6
14 .h5
Qg7
1 70
transposes
to
the game.)
12.Nfdl
12.a4 can be met with 12 . . . axb5
10 . . Qa5
.
ll.cxb5
The pawn should be captured
sooner or later, or else Black will
come for the one on c4: l l .Be2 Nb6
12.0-0 (12. b3? h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3
b4
15.Ncdl Nxe4- +)
1 2 . . . Nxc4
13.Bxc4
bxc4+,
Ionescu-Atalik,
Romania 1996.
ll ... Nb 6
The same policy again .
ontrary
to
popular
belief,
Black's compens ation in the
B enko becomes more obvious with
the disappearance of the queen s !
T h e reason for t h i s is the fact
that Black seeks counterplay on
the queen's flank, and without the
ladie s , there is no one to worry him
on the king's side .
1 71
further branch:
a) Nikolov chose against me the
solid 15.Nfd l to which I replied:
1 72
bll) 20 .b3
Ra3
2 1 . Rfbl
Nf4
22 .Bc4 g5 23 .g3 Ng6 24.Nd3 Rba8
25.Rb2 h5 2 6 .b4 Rc3 27.Rcl Raa3
28.Rb3 Raxb3 29. axb3 cxb4 30.Ral
Bh3 3 1 . Rcl Kf6+.
1 73
b222) 19 . . . Bxe6
2 l . Be3 Rb7
b2221) 22.Qxd6
2 0 . Bxe6
Rd8
Nxe6
23 .Qg3
24.Nxb2
b221)
Bxe6?)
1 74
to know is 17 . . . Rxb2 !
12 . . . axb5
13.Nxb5
Qxa6 15.Qe2
f6 24.Be3 f5=.
1 75
And 15
possibilities:
a1) 19.Be3 Nfd7 20.bxc4 Nxc4
2l.Rxb8+ Rxb8+t.
a2) 19.Bh4 Nbd7 20.b4 Ra3 2 l .b5
g5 22 .Be1 Nh5 23 .g3 Bd4 24.Rc1 Ne5
25.Rc2 Nd3 26.Bd2 Nb4 27.Rb2 Nd3
28.Rc2= e6!?.
b) Not as good is 17.Rb1 Nc4 18 .b3
Na3 19.Rc1 c4 20.bxc4 Nxc4 2 l . Re1
h6 22.Bh4 Nh5+.
1 76
a) 1 9 . Qxa5
Rxa5
2 0 . a3
saw
Black completely in control after
2 0 . . . Rb8 :
a l ) 2 1 . Bd2 Ra7 2 2 . Rc l Bd4+.
a2) 2 1 . 0 - 0 Bd4+ 2 2 . Kh l Kg7 !?
Black plays for a win. (22 ... Bxb2
16. Qxd6N
A greedy novelty.
Safer is 16.Be2, though Black
experienced no problems here as well.
16 . . . d5! It looks like the best idea for
Black is to immediately try to reach
the white king! 17.exd5 (better than
1 77
16
..
Na4
1 7. Qd2
I remember that when I was ana
lyzing the game, the computer's first
choice was 17.Bd2 and I did not feel
surprised to see this had already
been tried in a correspondence game:
17 Rfd8 18.Nxa4
18 Qxa4.
1 78
(18. Qf4
Qb6!)
al) 22 .Qb5
Qa7
2 3 . a3
Rab8
24 .Qa5 Qe7 2 5 . g3 Bb3 2 6 . Bg2 Bxd l
27.Rxd l Rxb2 -+.
a2) 22 .Be3 Qb4+ 2 3 . Kf2 Bxa2
24. Bxd4 cxd4+.
b) The game saw 19 . . . Rd4 20.b3
Qd7 2 l . Nc3 Nh5 22 .Qe3 Bxb3 23. Be2
(23.g4 QdB!) 23 . . . RdS 24. axb3 Rxd2+
- (63), Knudsen-Mikeshin, ICCF
email 1999.
18 . . . c4
Black is two pawns down, but
is much better developed. All of his
pieces are involved in the pressure he
puts on White's position. No wonder
he soon starts a very dangerous
attack.
However, there was a more
incisive decision: 18 . . . Nxb2 ! 19.Qxb2
1 79
19. Bd2
19 . . . Rxd2!!
25. Qb8+0
20. Qxd2
RdB
22. Qxb2 Nxe4/
21. Qc2
Nxb2
25 . . . Kg 7 26.Rcl ?l
This natural move brings White
to the verge of defeat.
The
computer
defense
was
2 6 . Bxc4 Bxc4 27.Rcl Bd3 28.Rxc3
Qxc3 2 9.Qb3 Qa l+ 3 0 . Kd2 Qxhl=.
26 . . . Bg4+ 2 7. Kc2
23.fxe4
Obviously weaker
is
2 3 . Rcl
Rxdl+ 24.Kxdl Nxc3+ 2 5 . Rxc3 Bxc3
26.Qcl Qe5 -+.
180
After
27. Be2
Qa4+
2 8 . Rc2
Bxe2+ 29.Kcl (not 29.Kxe2 Qxc2+-+)
29 Qa3+ 3 0 . Kbl Bd3
...
27 Be5 28 Qxe5+1
. . .
32. a4 Bf3
B etter was 32 . . . Qc6! 3 3 . Kb4
Qd6+ 3 4 . Kb3 Qb6+. Black stops
White's counterplay and then ad
vances the pawns on the King's
flank. 3 5 . Ka3 f5+.
33. Rhfl {5
The same plan, but with Black's
inactive queen, White escapes.
181
46. Kb3
39. Kb5
39.Ka4 Qc5 40. Bxd5 Qxcl 4 l . Kb5
Qfl+ 42 .Bc4 Qbl+ 43.Kc5 Qgl+
44.Kb5 f4 45.a6 Qa7 should be
winning for Black, although with
difficulties.
39
Qe5
42. Rcc2
44.Kb3
182
Qb8+
Qe3+
43. Kc3
45. Kb4
Qe5+
Qe7+
46 . . . Qb7+ 4 7. Kc3
Qd6+ 49. Kb3 -*-*
Memory Markers
Here are reminders of some of the ideas and motifs in this chapter.
4. After 16 Nf6!.
..
..
in Benidze-Saric.
on page 1 2 7 .
See diagram
Attacking
the exposed king. See diagram on
page 137 in Krylov-Efimenk.o.
...
183
184
The automatic
advance of the h-pawn when the
knight reaches g3 . See diagram on
page 161 in Anand-Nakamura.
Avoiding
a7-a6 against the Bc1-g5 plan.
See diagram on page 164 in
Anand-Nakamura.
1 85
Exercis es
Black to play!
As Black, practice finding the right moves when facing the Samisch .
Solutions to the exercises begin on page 325.
Exercise 1
Martinez - Damljanovic
Andorra Open 2008
An appetizer.
186
Exercise 2
Polishchuk
- Nesterets
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Arlandi - Khalifman
Harika - Mamedov
Groningen 1985
Moscow 2012
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Dragomarezkij - Kaminski
Zaid - Ubilava
USSR 1974
187
Exercise 7
Dias - Fier
Akhmadeev - Amonatov
Curitiba 2010
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Demanghon - Perrin
Sergeev - Klimov
FRA-chT2 2008
188
Exercise 8
A small combination.
Chapter 3
The Four
Pawns Attack
What can be more logical than taking the center if they give it to you? This
is the first thing that will come to anyone's mind after seeing Black developing
in a KID style. Just push the pawns, seize the center and crack this freaky
set-up. It's that simple . . .
1 Jobava - Jianu
5. . . 0 - 0 6. Nf3 e5!?
Chapter 3: The Four Pawns Attack
1 89
am nevertheless recommending
you use the fresh 6 . . . e7-e5 attempt
which is in the true spirit of the
KID, and further on it avoids some
side-possibilities for the first player,
which might be uncomfortable for
Black.
However, a line that is of interest
to us arises after 6 ... Na6 7.Be2 e5
and now 8.dxe5 (For 8.fxe5 dxe5
190
17.Rg1+ Kf8+.
a2) The active 13 .b4 just brings the
knight to a better position: 13 ... Ne6
14.g3 (14.{5 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Bxe5 16.fxe6
191
Black plays
12 . . . Nfxe4!
13.Nxe4
Bf5 14.Rel Bxe5 15.fxe5 Rd4, and
either recovers the piece or forces a
perpetual: 16 . Kc3 (or the immediate
16. b3 Nxe4) 16 . . . Rd3+ and now:
Nxel
22.Bxd4
Nxf3
23.gxf3=)
2 5 . . . Nb2 !
2 6 . Bxb2
Re3+
27.Bc3
Rxc3+ 2 S . Kb2 Rxc4 29. Rxd6 cxd6+.
d222) Best is 2 3 . Bd5, yet Black
can still try to mate the opponent
with 23 . . . Rexd5! 24.cxd5 Rxd5 25 .b4
Be6! 26.Rb1 Rd6 2 7.b5 a6 (27. .. Bc4!?)
forcing him to find the only defense:
2S.Bf4! Rd5 ! (or 2B . . . Nxf4 29.Rxd6
193
Rxdl+
lB.Nxdl
Nd3
19.e5
{6t)
16 .Kf3 :
t
.. ..
'/ /
ll
.
b1) Black did well in a recent
game after ll . . . c6 1 2 . Ne7+ KfS
13.NxcS RaxcS 14 .Be3 Nfxe4 15.Rd1
Rxd1+ 16.Kxd1 ReS 17. Nd3 Nxd3
1S. Bxd3
Bxb2+,
Uhoda-Guliyev,
Metz 2003 .
b2) But White's move can still
be met with ll . . . Nxd5 12.exd5 ReS !
A n old game of Kindermann shows
the tactical resources of the second
player. Let's follow it. 13.Be3 (13. 0-0?
is just bad: 13. . .{6 14.Nd3 B{B!) And
now:
b2 1) Black is not forced to give
up the bishop pair; he can recover
194
ft
7. dxe5
Another way
sacrificed pawn
to
is
pick
up
the
7.fxe5 dxe5
transposes
(8.d5
8.Nxe5
to
Bromberger-Nyzhnyk,
the second
game in this chapter.) The problem
7 dxe5 8. Qxd8
. . .
1 95
8 . . . Rxd8 9. Nxe5
1 0. Bd3
Best. The pawn on e4 needs care.
Alternatively, 10. Be2
9. . . Re8!?
I like this move . Black places
the rook on the half-open e-file, and
intends to open the file either by
taking on e4 and proceeding with f7f6 , or simply by trading the knight
on e5 with Nd7.
There are also valuable alterna
tives for the second player:
Another game of Jobava saw
9 Nfd7!? 10. Nf3 Bxc3+!? 1 l .bxc3
Nc5 12 .e5:
196
10
Ng41
12 . . . Na6!'1
Jianu probably was afraid of the
line 12 . . . f6 1 3 . Nd5, but analysis
shows that Black is doing great here
as well. (13. 0-0 fxe5 14.Be4 Nc6 is
equal) After 13 . . . Na6 14 . Ne3 Be6
15.exf6 (Maybe it's best for White
13. 0 - 0 Rad8
Kopylov- Seibicke,
1 6. . . (61
Kiel
197
1 7.Be8
17.exf6 can be answered with
17 . . . Bxf6 18.Be3
21.{5!?
The last try.
After 2 l . Rbl Nxc4 2 2 . f7+ Kxf7
2 3 . Rxb7+
Re7
24. Rxe7+
Kxe7
2 5 . Bxa7 Ke6 2 6 . Rc3 Rdl+ 27.Kf2
Rd2+ 2 8 . Kel Rxa2 2 9 . Rxc4 Rxa7
30.Rxc6+ Kf5 3 l .g3 Ra2 , all the
pawns are killed.
198
Bxf6
19.Nd5
Bxb2
2 Bromberger Nyzhnyk
l . d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg 7 4 . e4
d6 5.f4 0 - 0 6. Nf3 e5
31 . . . Ke5 % - %
7.Be2 e5:
1 99
l l . Nxe4 Bf5
1 2 . Bd3
(12.Nfd2 ?
Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Qh4+ loses a pawn.)
12 . . . Bxe4
1 3 . Bxe4
f5
Forking
everything all the way. . . 14 . Bxf5
Rxf5 ! and Black is on top, as e 5 e 4 is unstoppable: 1 5 . Be3 (15. 0 - 0
200
201
202
l l.Be3
a) The only game so far in this line
saw Black prematurely advancing his
kingside pawns with ll . . . f4?! 1 2 . Bf2
g5 , but after 1 3 . Nd 2 ! he could not
prevent the maneuver Be2 -g4 , and
lost the battle for the light squares ,
and the game, after 13 . . . c5 14 . Be2
Qd7 (Maybe 14 . . . Nf6 15.a3 b6 was
203
204
10.Bg5
Bromberger chooses a rare con
tinuation and is not shy about trad
ing his bishop.
The main continuation is 10.Bc2
a5 and now :
After 1 1.0-0 Black can proceed
in the spirit of the game with ll . . . Qd6
followed by Bc8-d7, b7-b6 , and play
on the kingside.
There is also the provoking
ll.Bg5 against which Black can try
l l . . .h6 1 2 . Bh4:
205
.1.
IO . . . Qd6
14. Khl ?!
It seems as if Bromberger lost
the thread. Otherwise, he would
have chosen to control the b5 square
without delay.
Correct is 14 .Qe2 cxd5 15.cxd5
Bd7 16 . a4 with approximate equality.
cxd5
16. cxd5
II.Bc2
Immediate castling entails a
pawn sacrifice: 1 1 .0 - 0 Ng4 (with the
threat Nc5xd3 and Qd6-b6+) 1 2 .Bc2
(12.Khl Qb6 transposes) 1 2 ... Qb6
1 3 . Kh1 Qxb2 14 .Bd2 Qb6 , and it is
questionable if the compensation is
sufficient .
13 . . . c6!
1 7. Qh4
206
1 7. . . h5
Nyzhnyk misses a golden oppor
tunity: 17 . . . b4! 18.Ndl
19 . . . Na 6
o 19 . . . Rfc 8 ! ? 2 0 . Bxb4 Ng41'.
18. b4
207
Memo r y M a r k e r s
Here are reminders of some of the ideas and motifs in this chapter.
Our starting
The central
strike. See diagram on page 191
in Jobava-Jianu.
3. Mter 13 ...Nfd7!.
4. Mter 2 1 . ..Bc8+.
208
5. After 10 ...Ng4.
The fresh
idea of Jianu, the text move in
Jobava-Jianu. See diagram on
page 197.
Play on both
flanks, text move in Bromberger
Nyzhnyk. See diagram on page
206.
209
Exerc i s es
Black to play!
As Black, practice finding the right moves when facing the Four Pawns
Attack.
Solutions to the exercises begin on page 3 3 2 .
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Varlet - Trommsdorf
Metge - Rogers
Auckland 1992
210
..
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Verdier Maier
Trepka - Skrivanek
Tabor 201 1
Delay in development
dangerous .
is
always
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Sykora - Sochna
Poobalasingam - White
British Championship
Isle of Man 2005
211
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Gerard - Hebden
Sofronie - Golubev
Bucharest 2003
212
Chapter 4
The Averbakh
System
Which light pieces to develop first: the knights or the bishops? The classical
players taught us the knights! They are short-ranged pieces and need more
time to reach the center or either flank. A bishop, on the other hand, might
appear to be already developed from its initial square in many cases, or it can
be brought into action with just move .
GM
Averbakh
had
Yuri
another
opinion
when
the KID was the subject. He liked
to first develop his black-squared
bishop with 6 . Bcl-g5 . One idea
was that it can now be easily
supported by Qcl- d 2 , and these two
pieces together can fight the pride
and joy of Black's setup: the KID
bishop ! Moreover, once the bishop
is swapped off, White can start
a devastating attack against the
weakened fianchetto position!
White also prevents the immedi
ate 6 . . . e7- e 5 , and is ready to castle
213
Khoroshev - Mchedlishvili
Agzamov Memorial
Tashkent 2012
l.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 8.Nc8 Bg7 4 . e4
d6 5.Be2 0 - 0 6. Bg5
7. Qd2
This is the main move, which
retains the flexibility in White's set
up. White supports the black-squared
bishop, intends to weaken Black's
kingside by exchanging bishops, and
then to advance the g- and h-pawns
with mating threats. Long castling is
also on the agenda.
However, other dangerous plans
are also available . We look at 7.f4 c6
here, 7.h4 e5 (on page 2 1 8), 7.Qc2
h6 (on page 220), and 7.Nf3 h6
(page 220).
6. . . Na6
Black prepares the e7-e5 advance
and intends to introduce the knight
into the central fight via the c5
square .
As usual, whenever you see the
bishop appearing on the g5 square,
you must have something in mind!
This move is not only designed to
provoke h7-h6 but also to prevent e7e5. Avoid 6 . . . e5? 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8
Rxd8 9. Nd5 with a double attack
against the pinned knight and the c7
pawn, when White wins.
214
215
216
217
nother
principally
different
plan is to advance the h-pawn
with 7.h4 e5:
218
pressure
on
e4!
219
and now:
a) 8 . Be3 e5.
b) 8.Bd2 e5 9.dxe5 dxe5= 10.Nd5?!
Nc5 1 l . Bb4 Nfd7 1 2 . Bg4?! f5 13.exf5
e4 14 .Be2 was already better for
Black had he found the move 14 . . . c6!
220
221
7. . . e5 8. d5
9 dxe5
.
and now:
a) 10.Rd1 Nc5 1 l . Bxf6 This trade
weakens White's
dark squares.
ll . . . Bxf6 1 2 . Nd5 Bd8 (with the idea
of c7-c6) 13 .Qe3 Ne6 ! Now Black ar
ranges his pieces in a most beauti
ful way: 14 . Nxe5 c6 15.Nc3 and now
the move 15 . . . Bg5 ! leads to advan
tage for Black. (Instead, 15 . . . Bb6 in
19.Qe3 Nxe4+.
b) 10.0-0 is more solid, but Black
still manages to bring the a6 knight
to a gorgeous position: 10 . . . Nc5 not
only attacking the e4 pawn but
intending to bring the knight into
the center with tempos after Nc5 -e6.
l l . Bxf6 Bxf6 1 2 . Nd5 (Worse is
12. b4 ?! Ne6 13.c5 c6+.) 12 . . . Bd8! and
again, White cannot win the pawn:
13 .Qe3 Ne6+ 14 . Nxe5?! c6 15.Nc3
Bg5 16.f4? Nxf4 ! .
222
. . .
Nc5!?
This is my recommendation
against
the
Averbakh
system
because of a sharp idea of Ang.
Perez. It has an excellent surprise
value and some deep analysis will
allow you to score decently in the
line.
If you do not want to take a risk,
you might like to study 8 . . . Qe8 !?
which is a decent alternative .
So is the main continuation 8 . . . c6
9.f3 cxd5 10.cxd5 Bd7, which also
successfully solves Black's opening
problems.
9.(3
Born out of necessity.
223
is
1 l . Bxd8
Nxd2
10 . Nxe4
Nxe4
1 2 . Bxc7 Ne4 (12 . . . e4 is interesting
too: 13.Rcl e3 14.fxe3 Ne4 ) 1 3 . f3
Nc3 14 . Bxd6 ReS (14 . . . RdB!? 15.Bc7
ReB) 1 5 . Kfl e4! and it turns out
that Black's initiative is very
strong even in the endgame: 16.Re1
9. . . a5 lO. Bdl
White frees the e2 square for the
knight and prepares Bd1-c2 . Still,
this seems a bit artificial.
This is not the only idea that
White has in this situation. Three
alternatives are explored.
224
and now:
a) l l . Nh3
cxd5
1 2 . cxd5 Bd7
13 .Nf2 a4!? with the idea Qd8-a5 and
b7-b5 -b4:
10 .. . c6
225
22 7
228
229
10 . . . c6
11. Be3 ?1
Highly illogical.
White should finish developing
with ll.Nge2 . Black has a good score
in this line as well, but the position
is balanced and White can try and
fight for an edge. u .. cxd5
.
230
16. Qc2 ?
The exchange on e4 should not be
allowed!
19. . . Nc5
231
Memory M a rkers
Here are reminders of some of the ideas and motifs in this chapter.
4. After
232
1 0 ...Nxe4!. Central
pressure. See diagram on page
222.
An early
central attack. See diagram on
page 224.
diagram on page 2 2 6 .
development.
page 230.
See
diagram
on
233
Exercis es
Black to play!
As Black, practice finding the right moves when facing the Averbakh
System.
Solutions to these exercises begin on page 337.
Exercise 1
Uksti Kulaots
234
Exercise 2
Strunsky
Raykhman
German Championship
Net Final UlB 2009
The game of checkers.
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Zaiatz - Komiagina
Wilder - Gallagher
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Walkusz - Dlugosz
Mohr - Uhlmann
Bund_esliga 1994
235
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Bagirov - Khismatullin
Seirawan - Gelfand
Tilburg 1990
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Silman - Brooks
236
Inspiration is needed.
Chapter S
The Bagirov
Line
We trust that the lines we have studied so far have convinced you that the
King's Indian is a hard nut to crack and cannot be taken with bare hands .
Careful preparation is needed, and in this chapter we shall investigate such
an approach.
he positional system which
starts with 6 .h3 is named
after GM Vladimir Bagirov
who laid the foundation of its
strategic concepts. Just as in the
Petrosian, this system is designed
to limit Black's active possibilities.
One idea is to carefully control
the e4 square and make the f7-f5
advance ineffective. White often
plays g2-g4 to discourage his op
ponent from advancing this pawn;
even if f7-f5 is still possible, the first
player intends to trade twice on f5
and block the position with Nf3 d2-e4. If this happens , the knight
is more than happy in the center,
but what is more important, it will
23 7
1 Parligras - Fressinet
5. . . 0- 0 6. Nf3
6 . . . Na 6
The
Bagirov
system.
White
intends to fight the KID in a
positional way.
The placement of the pawn on h3
is designed to take control over the
important g4 square, thus making
possible the development of the bish
op to e3. White usually waits with
the other bishop, which might get
into the game at a later stage on e2
or d3 , or it might even be fianchet
toed.
This pawn is also useful in the
aggressive-preventive play on the
king's flank. As mentioned in the in
troduction, White usually advances
g2-g4 and tries to discourage the f7f5 move. If Black insists on this idea,
the first player will exchange twice
on f5 and win the e4 square and open
the g-file for an attack. If not, White
might advance the pawns further to
238
7. Be3
The most natural move .
For the more active, tricky, and
popular continuation 7. Bg5 see the
next game. But here I will mention
the following game, as there is a
transposition to a later phase in
our present game: 7 . . . Qe8 8 . Be2
e5 9.d5 Nh5 10.g3 f5 l l . Nh4 Nf6
1 2 .exf5 gxf5 13.Be3. We reach a
position seen in our main game, but
with an extra tempo for Black. This
certainly cannot be bad, and Black
took over the initiative after 13 . . . Bd7
14.Qd2 Nc5 1 5 . Bh6 Nfe4 16 . Nxe4
Nxe4 17.Qcl Qf7+ in Rajcevic-Antic,
Obrenovac 2 0 0 5 .
7 e5
. . .
8.d5
White stabilizes the center and
shifts the play to the flanks .
Some years ago there was a slight
burst of popularity in the line 8 .dxe5
dxe5 9.c5 (the pawn is untouchable:
9. Nxe5?! Nxe4) with the ideas Bflxa6
and Nf3-d2-c4-eventually-d6 But it
was soon discovered that 9 . . . b6! yields
White no advantage:
. . .
Nh5!
239
240
(o
13.Nxa4
Qa5
14.Nc3
Bh6)
9.g8
Parligras decided to limit the
black knight. However, this cannot
prevent Black from playing for the
f7-f5 advance.
There are several alternatives for
White. We look at 9.a3 next, 9.Nd2
on page 243, 9.Ngl on page 244,
a nd 9.Nh2 on page 246.
A typical plan is to advance the
pawns on the queen's flank at once:
9.a3 . In this case I recommend that
you first give some air for your piec
es, with 9 ... c6 (Alternatively, Black
241
Lysyj-Novikov,
17 . . . Bxb5
242
Belgorod
1 8 . Nxd6
Bxfl
2008.)
19.Nxc8
Now it's 13 ... Nd7 ! with the ideas of f5 f4 , Nd7-c5 and Na6-b4 afterwards.
14 . Rg1 supporting the bishop. (After
243
14 . . . f3!
(14 ... cxb4
15.Nb5
Qd7
16.Bxb4 is the kind of play that
White is aiming for.) 15.gxf3
(15.g3? would receive a painful
punch: 15... Nxg3 16.fxg3 f2+ 17.Ke2
cxb4 and Black already wins, as
the knight must not move: lB.Nbl ?
Qb5+ 19.Ke3 Bh6 mate.) 15 . . . cxb4
16 .Nb5 Qd8 (16... Qf7!? is also worth
analyzing.) 17.Qb3 (1 7.Rcl c6 18.dxc6
bxc6 19.Rxc6 a5 is good for Black.)
244
Nb4 0 - 1 , in
Skopje 1991.
Redzepagic- Golubev,
245
ll.g3 ?
246
24 7
9. . . Qe8
15 . . . Nb4
1 1 . . . gxf5 12.Nh4
12.Nd2 would transpose to the
alternative line 9.Nd2 discussed
above, with 12 . . . Nf6? transposing to
the diagram in line a) on page 243.
An important moment!
From
hindsight,
the
strike
15 f3!N
13 . . . (4!
Activity and only activity!
The
timid
13 . . . e4?!
allows
14 .0-0-0, when White is strategi
cally winning. He has juicy squares
for the knights (f4 is great one), and
248
Now,
bad
18 .0-0-0 Ne4
Qxe4
wins
is
17.Qd2?! Bf5
19.Rhgl (19.Nxe4? ?
instantly
for
Black.)
19 . . . Bg6 !+.
However, even after 17.Qb3 Black
has nothing to worry about.
a) One
possibility
is
17 . . . a5,
intending to meet 18.0,- 0 - 0 with
either 18 . . . Bh6+ or 18 . . . Bf5 .
b) However, 17 . . . Nd3+, spoiling
casting, is even better: 18.Kd2 White
manages to bring the a-rook into
action. Still, Black has decent counter
chances after 18 . . . Nc5 19.Bxc5 (The
And now:
bll) 22 .Qxb7?!
is
too
risky.
22 . . . Rb8 23.Qxc7 Rxb2+ 24.Kdl Ng4 ! !
2 5 . Bxg4 Ba4+ 2 6 . Kcl Rc2+ 27.Kbl
Qb8+ 2 8 . Nb5 (or 28. Qxb8 RxbB+
29.Nb5 Rxc4+) 28 . . . Qxc7 29.Nxc7
Rb8+ 30.Nb5 Rxc4 , with close to a
decisive advantage for Black.
b12) On the other hand 2 2 . Rg2 is
possible, with a mess after 22 . . . Qe5
2 3 . Rhgl Qf4+ 24.Kdl Rf7 25.Nf3
Bf5 26.Qxb7 ReB. Black definitely
has a powerful initiative, and it is up
to him to prove that it matters more
than White's material advantage.
b13) After 2 2 . Nf3 Black can
either repeat moves with 22 . . . Bf5=,
or take a risk with 22 . . . Nh5 !? to try
for a win.
b2) If 2 l . Ng5 , then 2 l . . . Rd8 (to
stop Ng5 -e6) 2 2 . Kcl. Then after
22 . . . Bh6 Black is fine.
b3) The immediate doubling of
the rooks is also logical: 2 l . Rg2 Ne4+
2 2 . Nxe4 Qxe4 2 3 . Rhgl Bg6 24.Ng5
Bh6 25.f3 Qf4+ 26 .Qe3 Rae8 2 7.Qxf4
Rxf4 28 .b3 Rh4 29. Rg4 Bxg5+
30. Rxg5 Rxh3 (or 30 . . . Rd4+ 31.Kel
K.g7oo) 3 l . Bd3 Rh2+ 3 2 . R lg2 (not
32.Kc3 ? Re3) 32 . . . Rxg2+ 3 3 . Rxg2 =.
249
1 7. Rgll R(7
18.Nxf3 B(5
16. Qd2
19.Nh4
16. . . (3N
250
28. Qe4
Or 28 .Qg3 Rxf2+.
251
2 Avrukh - Milov
7th Gibraltar Masters 2009
l . d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4
Nf6 5. h3 0 - 0 6. Bg5 Na 6
The presence of the bishop on g5
might provoke Black to play h7-h6 . I
believe there is no need to go for this.
As you have seen from the previous
game, White can also develop the
bishop to e3. Furthermore, White
will be able to win a precious tempo
with the developing move Qdl-d2 ,
hitting the h6 pawn.
Now Black creates threats of
his own. The game enters the time
trouble zone and the turn of events
did not inspire White!
7. Nf3
The position in the text is usually
achieved with the move order 6.Nf3
Na6 7. Bg5 .
7. . . Qe8
I like this approach . It is the most
flexible one, and Black keeps the op
tion to go for either of the e7-e5 or c7c5 advances .
The utility o f the bishop o n g 5 is
seen in the line 7 . . . e5 8.d5, as now
the pin on the f6 -knight doesn't allow
8 . . . Nc5? due to 9.b4, and White's
e-pawn is safe.
8. Be2
After 8.a3 e5 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.b4,
the knight can find a better post with
10 . . . c6? followed by Na6 -c7-e6.
The useful move 8.Qc2 can be
met with another of Golubev's ideas:
8 . . . h6!? (8 . . . e5 is met with 9. dxe5 dxe5
35. . . Nxe2
35 . . . Qe5 would have been quicker.
252
253
254
ReS
14.h5;!;,
Pashikian-Jobava,
Martuni 2 0 1 1 .
d ) Another way t o finish develop
ing is via the fianchetto 9. Bg2 :
d1) The modern way of fighting
White's bind is shown in the following
games: 9 . . . Bd7 10.0 - 0 cxd4 l l . Nxd4
ReS , not only to weaken the long
diagonal, but to prepare an unusual
rook lift. 1 2 .b3
255
Nxg4
wins
a pawn
for Black )
.
. . .
e5 9. d5
11.0-0
In the line l l .b4 Na4 1 2 .Qcl Nxc3
13 .Qxc3:
. .
Bd71?
10. Nd2
For the other main move 10.g4 ,
see our next game, Milanovic-Bojkov.
10. . . Nc5
257
ll . . . a5 12. b3
If 1 2 . a3?! then 12 . . . a4 .
12 . . . h5
19 . . . Ng5
The hits on h3 are in the air.
Now what?
15 . . . gxf5!!
The stunning pawn sac! The h5
pawn is lost with tempo, but Black
manages to open files for his rooks
and mercilessly bring all his pieces
to the king's flank!
258
20. Bfl
One beautiful line runs 20.b4 f4!
21.Bxc5:
21 . . . Qxg5
20 . . . Rae8
Milov coolly brings up the re
serves.
But it appears, though, that the
position was already ripe: 20 . . . Nd3 !
21.Bxd3 exd3 2 2 . Qxd3 f4 2 3 . Bd4 f3 !
with a decisive attack a s 24. Bxg7
Nxh3+! is mate in five .
21. Bxg5
Chapter 5: The Bagirov Line
259
3 Milanovic - Bojkov
White is helpless.
10 . . . Nc5
A logical move which brings the
knight into the action .
The play of Swedish IM Nithander
deserves credit as well: 10 . . . Kh8
260
Better is 13 . . . f6 !
l l . Nd2
261
ll . . a5
l l c6 can be answered with:
.
...
18. Rgl
Another plan is to hurry up and
castle with 13 .Qc2 !? Ne8 14 .0-0-0
with the standard idea 14 ... f5 15.gxf5
gxf5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17. Nde4 , when
the g7 bishop is blocked. Play may
continue 17 . . . Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Nf6 19.f3
Bg6 with the idea Nf6 -h5 -f4 .
18 . . . Kh8 ?!
Despite the glorious outcome of
this game, I am not too happy with the
outcome of the opening. Since White
intends to castle long, it made sense
for me to worry him a bit in advance.
Instead, 13 . . . c6! was called for,
. . .
262
1 9. Qd2
A very venomous move! I thought
that Slavisa wanted to castle next.
The idea 19. Bd4 is not yet working
due to 19 . . . Nd3+ 20. Bxd3 (20. Qxd3 ?
19. . . a4
17. Bxf5?!
. .
18. Ng3 e4 ?!
This was my idea, to open up the
bishop and quickly organize play on
the queen's flank with a5 -a4-a3 . But
I am one tempo too short.
263
22 . . . Be5!!
23.(4
White miscalculated here.
The main line goes 23.Nxf5 Rxf5
24.Bxf5 Qxf5
264
29.Rgl Qh3+=.
25.Kfl a3 ! and if 26 .b3?? then
26 . . . Qh3+.
I was mostly afraid of the counter
sac 25.Rg5!
a) Now 25 . . . Qf3 2 6 . Rxe5 (n ot
26. Qe2 ? Bxc3+) 26 . . . dxe5
25. . . Bf8
28.Nb5?!
Correct was 2 S . Nge2 Qxd4+
29.Nxd4 Ne4+ (or 29. . . Nd7 30.Ne6
81 . . . Ne5
27... Qg4
The situation has stabilized, and
I managed to outwit my opponent in
the time scramble.
265
32. Kc3
Better than 32.Nxc7 ReB 3 3 . Ne6
Rxc4 34.Nh5 Rf7+.
32
. .
33 . . . h6
Best was 33 . . . Rf4!+.
34.N3e4
Not 34.Nxf3 Rxf3+ 3 5 .Rxf3
Nxf3 36.Rg2 Nxh4 37.Rgl Nf3
38.Rg2 h5-+.
And not 34.N5e4 Rfg6 -+.
48
34 . . . Rf4+
Nf2
. .
Kg6
266
Memory Markers
Here are reminders of some of the ideas and motifs in The Bagirov Line.
Kingside
aggression. See diagram on
page 242 , notes to 9.g3 in Parli
gras-Fressinet.
Immediate
1. After 9 ...b6!.
equality against the central trade.
See diagram on page 239, notes
to 8 .d5 in Parligras-Fressinet.
center,
the
text
move
in
Parligras-Fressinet, page 248 .
267
15 ... gxf5!!.
Milov's
superb idea, the text move m
Avrukh-Milov, page 258.
7. After
268
Exercis es
Black to play!
As Black, practice finding the right moves when facing The Bagirov Line.
Solutions to the exercises begin on page 343.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Nikcevic - Tkachiev
Miroiu - Georgescu
Cannes i 996
269
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Kostic - Riemersma
Caorle 1989
Havana 2007
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Robatsch - Timoscenko
Vokoun - Juptner
CZE-chT1 W 2012
270
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Todorovic - Dujkovic
Arnaudov - Novikov
SCG-chT 2006
EU-ch 2008
A standard idea . . .
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Sahu - Miles
Wolf - Kleinwaechter
Kolkata 1995
GER-chT 1999
271
Chapter 6
The
Fianchetto
System
2 73
1 Laznicka - Vachier-Lagrave
8. e4
4 . . . 0- 0 5. Bg2 c6
The usual way to reach our
recommended line is 5 . . . d6. In this
game Black kept his options open.
He could have switched to the
Griinfeld Defense on the next move,
but I suspect that Vachier-Lagrave
wanted a more lively game than the
symmetrical positions that arise in
that opening. Still, if you are one of
those players who tend to play both
the Griinfeld and the KID, this is
a good point for you to torture your
opponent just a bit.
6. 0- 0 d6 7.Nc3 Qa5
274
2 75
8 .. Qa6
.
276
e5
9. h3
Once again White can close the
center, but with the knight on c3 this
is less effective: 9.d5 cxd5 10.cxd5
2 77
compensation after
15.Rel Nc5
16. Bfl Qb7 17.Nd2 Bd7 18.f3, and
now 18 . . . Bb5!? or 18 . . . Ba4!?.
b) Or if you are not in a sacrificial
mood, you can chose the more stable
12 . . . bxa3 13.Nc3 Qb4 14 .Rxa3:
1 0. Be3
9 . Nbd7
.
278
18 . . . Bf5+,
in
Grachev-Movsesian,
Plovdiv 2008.
a32) For better or for worse,
White needed to accept the chal
lenge: 17. Bxb7 Bxh3 18. Bxa8 Bxfl
19.Bc6
2 79
280
10
. . .
exd4
1 1 . Nxd4
15.Bxf8 Bxf8
16.Qc2 a5
Y2-Y2,
Hansen- Georgiev, Germany 2000.
b) Also possible is the simple re
grouping 1 2 ... Nbd7= with the idea
Rf8-e8 and Nd7-f8 -e6-d4!
c) And finally, McShane's highly
original way of preventing White's
play on the queenside: 12 . . . Qb4
13.c5 Nc4 14 . Nxc4 Qxc4 15 .Qc2
Be6 16. Rfdl Rfd8 17.b3 Qb4 18.Na4
l l . . . Nb 6 12. Nb3
Or 12 .Qd3 , which transposes to
10 . . . Nb6 l l .Qd3 exd4 1 2 . Nxd4 , in the
note after Black's lOth move.
281
12 . . . Qh5
18. Qxh5
The other version of the endgame
is no better: 13.Nd2 Qxd l 14 . Rfxd l
Be6 15. Bfl Rfd8 16.f4 d5 17.cxd5
cxd5 18.Bxb6 axb6 19.e5 Nh5 20.Kf2
f6t Mikhalevski- Oratovsky, Rishon
Le Ziyyon 1995.
No one has ever tried 13.g4? ! ,
and with good reason, a s 13 . . . Bxg4!
14 .hxg4 Nxg4 15. Bf4 Nxc4 nets a
third pawn for the sacrificed piece
and keeps the attack going for free,
for the second player.
18 . . . Nxh5 14.g4
14 .Na5 would most likely lead to
a transposition, but Black can also
use the moment to strike with 14 . . . f5 .
14
. .
1 6. Rfdl
The move 16.c5 allows Black to
get rid of the backward pawn: 16 . . . Nc4
17. Nxc4 Bxc4 18. Rfdl dxc5 19. Bxc5
Rfd8 !? 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 2 l . Bxa7 Rd2
22 .b3 Nd7 (22 . . . Bd3!?) 2 3 .bxc4 Bxc3
24.Be3 Bxa l 2 5 . Bxd2 Ne5 26 .c5 (not
26.B{l ? ? Nf3+) 26 . . . Bd4 27. Kfl Nd3
2 8 . Ke2 Nxc5=, Zhu Chen-Arizmendi
Martinez, Gibraltar 2006.
And 16.b3?! looks like a blun
der: 16 . . . Nxg4 17.Bd2 Ne5 18.f4 Nd3
19.Nxb7 and now:
a) 19 . . . Bd4+ 20.Kh2 g5 2 l . f5 Bxc4
2 2 . Na5 Ba6 2 3 . Nxc6oo, Poliakov- Go
chelashvili, Novomikhailovsky 2011.
b) Black could have entered fa
vorable complications with 19 . . . Bxc4
20 .bxc4 Nxc4 2 l .Rad l Ndb2 22.Ne2
Nxd l 2 3 . Rxdl Rfb8 24.Na5 Nxa5
2 5 . Bxa5 Rb2+.
Also bad is 16.Nxb7?! Nxc4
17. Rabl Rab8 18.Nxd6 Nxe3! 19.fxe3
Nd7+.
16. . . Nfd7!?
282
21. Rxd6
Not 2 l .f5? gxf5 2 2 . gxf5 Bxf5 !
17. Racl
17. Rxd6 looks very nice for Black
after 17 . . . Ne5 18.Bfl Bxc4 19.Nxc4?!
Nbxc4+.
Maybe White could try 17.f4 Nxc4
18.Nxc4 Bxc4 19. Rxd6 Nb6 20.Rc l
(or 20.e5 {6!) 2 0 . . . B a 6 2 l .b3 Rfd8
with complex position with mutual
chances.
20.(4 Rfe8!?
283
29 . . . Kf7
Better was 29 Bc8=.
...
2 Harikrishna Radjabov
39th Olympiad
Khanty-Mansiysk 2010
l.d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg 7 4.g3
0 - 0 5. Bg2 d6 6. 0 - 0 Nbd7 7.Nc3
e5 8. e4 c 6 9. h3 Qa5 I O. Rel
12. Bfl
12 . . . Re8
Black introduces the rook into
the game. The pressure along the
half-open e-file will be useful in the
future.
285
18. Be8
Besides this natural development
White has some important alterna
tives. We look at 13.f4, 13.Rbl, and
finally 13.Nb3 on the next page.
13.f4 Ned7
286
Nb6
19.Be3 Qxc4 20.Qd2 Na4
2l.Nxa4 Qxa4 with a healthy ex
tra pawn despite White's activity in
Maletin- Sakaev, St. Petersburg 2009.
13.Nb3 can be played at this
moment as well as later. The
drawback of this move is that the
knight is standing in the way of
Black's oncoming a-pawn, whose
advance is one of the main options in
his position. 13 . .Qc7
.
18.g4
287
13
. . .
c5/?
288
14. Nf3
One of the two main weapons
that White has in his arsenal and
the choice of Karpov against Topalov.
The other is 14.Nb3!? discussed on
page 290.
14.Nc2 looks timid and was tried
only once, but watch out! It has more
venom than you might think! After
Be6 15.Na3:
289
The
14.Nb3!?
Repertoire.
And now:
a) 17. Nd5?! Nxd5 18.exd5 Bd7
19.a4 f5 20.Bd2 Nf7 2 1 .Qc2 Rxe1
2 2 . Bxe1 Ng5+ Ippolito-V. Georgiev,
Bermuda 1998.
b) Stohl recommended 17.Nd2!?
when Black has the fascinating idea
17 . . . Qxb2 ! ? (or . 1 7. . . Nc6 18.Nd5 Bxd5
19.cxd5 Nd4 20.Nc4 Qc7?) 18.Na4
290
15.a3:
291
And now:
a) 17.b4 is still possible, but less
appealing. 17 . . . b6 18 .b5 a6 19.a4 axb5
20.Nxb5 Bb7 2 l .f4 Nc6 2 2 . Bf2 Nb4
23.Ra3 Bxe4+ was Maletin-Smirnov,
Barnaul 2011.
b) White might try also 17.Qc2 !?
with the natural desire to finish his
development and place a rook on the
half-open file. A game of Antonios
Pavlidis , a former student of mine,
continued 17 . . . Nc6 (17. .. b6 lB.Radl
Bb7 is worth investigating.) 18.Nf3
Nd7 19.Redl Nde5 20.Nxe5 Nxe5!?
sacrificing a pawn, or even two.
Antonios is a very sharp tactician
who is not afraid to invest material,
which helped him win his first na
tional men's title at the age of eigh
teen. 2l.Bxc5 Nf3+ 22.Khl Qg5 and
Black had strong attack for the sacri
ficed piece. 23.Bxd6 Qh5 (23 . . . Qh6 is
more exact.) 24.Ne2 g5 25.Ngl Nxgl
26.Kxgl Bxh3 27. Rd5 Re6 2 8 . Bf4?
Bxfl 29. Rxg5 Qe2 30.Qc3 Rg6 0-1,
Obrusnik-Pavlidis, Albena 201 1 .
293
294
34 ... Rxe5?!
(Missing the chan ce
34 . . . Re7! 35. Kg3 Rd3 36.a4 Rxe5+)
35. Bxb7 Rxh4+ 3 6 . Kg3 Rc4 37.Rb3
Kg7 3 8 . Rd3 a5 39. Bd5 Rc2 40.c6
axb4 4 1 . axb4 lh-lh, Ramirez-Bojkov,
Richardson USA 2 0 1 1 .
b ) Therefore, I now believe that
17 . . . Qd8 at once is the most precise
for Black:
295
17.Bxc5
296
Colovic-Carmaciu,
Sunny
2 0 1 1 . A spectacular game !
Beach
15. . . Nd7!?
An idea of the Romanian GM
Grigore.
Topalov achieved excellent com
pensation
after
15 . . . Be6
16. Bf4
33.cxd6
Ne2+
34.Kh3
297
16.Nb5
It is curious that the passive
16 . . . Ne5
298
1 7. Qe2
Avoiding the typical trick with
the special participation of Her
Majesty: 17.Qg2?
Centralization!
Qb6
would
trap
the
20 . . . Qb6=
299
Memory Markers
Here are reminders of some of the ideas and motifs in The Fianchetto
System.
2. After
Active
central play against Georgiev's
idea. See diagram on page
280, notes to 10.Be3 in Laznic
ka-Vachier Lagrave.
300
17 ... Bb5.
Queenside
pressure with a closed center. See
diagram on page 277, notes to
9.h3 in Laznicka-Vachier Lagrave.
Positional
exchange sacrifice. See diagram
on page 2 8 1 , notes to 10 . . . exd4
in Laznicka-Vachier Lagrave.
Flexibility
7. Mter 23 ...Nd4.
against
Avrukh's
line.
See
diagram on page 295, notes to
14.Nf3 in Harikrishna-Radj abov.
301
9. Mter 22 . Nd4
Centraliza
tion in Harikrishna-Radj abov,
see diagram on page 299.
.
302
Exercis es
Black to play!
As Black, practice finding the right moves when facing The Fianchetto
System .
Solutions to the exercises begin on page 349.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Aronian - Marjanovic
Szabolcsi - Lorscheid
Bucharest 1999
Budapest 2007
303
Exercise 3
Ursie
Sulava
Palleja Rahal
Barcelona 1995
A typical trick.
Trap something!
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Wheeler Zilberstein
Schaefer Lechtynsky
Litomysl 1997
304
Exercise 4
Exercise 7
Holeman Acher
Exercise 9
Exercise 8
Hoffmann
Movsesian
Exercise 10
Zats Bonin
Barcelona 2001
305
Exercise 1
15 . . . Qe5+
or even the better 15 ... Ne5!+, Black
is much better, thanks to his
domination on the dark squares, the
weak isolated pawn on e4, and the
clear superiority of the black knight
against the bishop on e2 .
Exercise 2
Cobb - Grossett
Bristol 1998
The seeming happiness in White's
camp is deceptive . Prove it!
12 . . . Nxe4!
A typical trick based on the
vulnerable position of the white
knight on d4 and the dark-squared
bishop. One should always watch
carefully to see if it works!
18.fxe4
Even worse is 13.Nxe4 Qxd2
14 .Bxd2 Bxd4+, as Black wins the
pawn for free after 15.Nxd6?? Rxe2-+.
Young - Yermolinsky
US Open, Chicago 1994
Remember the previous one?
12 . . . Nxe4!
This should be a piece of cake,
once you have solved the previous
exercise.
18.Nxe4
13. Bxd8? is even worse, as it loses
a piece and the pawn after 13 . . . Nxd 2 .
307
15. . . dxc5+
With a healthy extra pawn and a
bishop pair as "compensation", Black
easily won.
Exercise 4
Exercise 3
Hoelzl - Szilagyi
Budapest 1988
Zude - Graf
Bundesliga 2004
26 . . . Rxb2!
Black wins material while bring
ing his pieces closer to the enemy
king!
27. Qxb2
The
most
stubborn
defense
would be 27.Re8+ Bf8 28.Qxb2 Nxd3
29.Na4! (Or even worse: 29. Qd2 Nf2+
30.Kgl Ne4 + - +) 29 . . . Nxb2 30.Nxc5
dxc5+, although Black should win
here as well.
308
21. e 5
The move 2 1 .Qxc5 will indeed
save the rook but not the game, after
2 1 . . .dxc5 2 2 . Rd2 Nbxc4 23 .Re2 Nxfl
24.Rxfl b5-+.
After the text move, the simple
continuation 2l . . . Nxc2 wins easily.
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Keipo - Perez
Zakharov - Yurtaev
Cuba 2000
1 6. . . Nexg4! 1 7. Nb 6
29 . . . Bb7!!
The hunting season for the white
king is open!
30. Qxb 7
17. . . Nxe4
White
cannot
survive
after
30.Nd5 Rad8 3 l . Kgl Bxd5 32.cxd5
Rd6 .
18 . . . Ne5+
Black has chopped an important
pawn and later won the game.
309
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Trmal - Michalek
Littleton - Boey
Czechia 2009
25 . . . Rxd6!
KID players never retreat! They
also rarely miss a chance to gain con
trol over the black squares!
26. cxd6
26.fxe5 would lose the black
squares anyway, and would not even
bring material consolation for the
first player after 26 . . . Rd4-+.
310
18 . . . Rad8
There is no direct refutation,
but
simple
development
will
underline the fact that White lacks
communication between his pieces.
13 . . . Nh5 is a decent alternative.
1 7. a8 Nbd8
18. Bxd8 Nxd8
19. Qe2 Qb8 20. Ncd1 Rd7! 21. Rb1
Red8 - + 22. Bd2 ? ? Nf4 0-1
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Kolev - Rasik
Korotylev - Kokarev
Budapest 1993
Serpukhov 2007
22 . . . Bxc3
19. . . Ne6!
25. . . Ne 6!
Nd7!+
2 6.{5
Nf8!
trade on
rid of his
stabilizes
favor.
20. Bxe5
Unfortunately for White, he can
not retreat the bishop: 20. Be3? a3 !
will cause immediate collapse of the
queen's flank, while a neutral move
like 20. Rabl? will witness an acci
dent on the other side of the board:
20 . . . Nxd4 2 1 . Nxd4 Qh4!-+.
2 7. Kgl
311
Exercise 11
Exercise 1
Wirig - Vaisser
Caen 2011
A pleasant choice . . .
Sundararajan - Asauskas
World Championship U20, Goa 2002
29 . . . Nh3+1
This breaks White's pawn for
mation and allows Black to solidify
his advantage. With so many active
pieces, it is no wonder that he had an
alternate win, with 29 . . . Qal+! 30.Nfl
Nxg2 ! ! with the idea 3 1 . Kxg2 Bh3+
32.Kg3 Qxfl 33. Nf4 h4 mate.
312
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Serralta - Rabineau
French Championship, Nimes 2009
15. . . Nxf4!
Forced, but good! Black gains
three pawns for the piece at once,
with a strong attack.
Sergeev - Osinovsky
St. Petersburg White Nights
St. Petersburg 2004
Make use of your activity!
26 . . . Nxb21
Wins a pawn at once.
22 . . . Rae8
Black wins back one of the pieces
and retains good winning chances .
313
Exercise 4
30. Kg2
Sasikiran - Konguvel
India Championship, Nagpur 1999
How can Black make progress?
25. . . h5!
The heavy pieces and the bishop
cannot be improved for the moment,
but the advance of the h-pawn will
weaken the castled position of the
white king, and will open spaces for
future attack.
29.g4 ?!
White does not stand the pres
sure and allows the following storm!
Better was 29.Kg2 , preparing for
the defense.
Note that the trade of the light
pieces is favorable for Black: 29.Nxf5
Qxf5 30.Kg2 g4-+.
29 . . . Bxg4!
314
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Obukhov - Sergeev
Bedic - Markun
Slovenian Championship
Kranj 1999
29. . . h5!
The help of the foot-soldier will
transform the white position from
defendable into hopeless. The main
defender on g3 cannot hold the
position .
80. Kg1
White's fate is sealed if he starts
pushing the pawns in front of his
king: 30.h4 Qf6 3 1 . Kgl Qd4+ 3 2 . Ne3
Nf6 3 3 . Rd8 Rg4! 34.Qf2 Qxd3
35. Nxg4 Nxg4 36 .Qf4 Qe2-+.
12 . . . Nf4!+
It is amazing how quickly the
white position will fall apart now.
12 . . . Nxc3 indeed ruins the white
pawns, but this knight is made for
greater deeds!
18. Bc4 ?
1 3 . Kh l Qg5
White's best bet.
14. Bg3
h5t
was
82. Rxf8+
Not 3 2 . Rel Rf3 !
315
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Miles - Nunn
Dannevig - Vladimirov
19 . . . Neg41 20.Bh4
If the knight is captured, then
Black will grab the dark-squared
bishop, causing the collapse of the
white position: 20.fxg4 Ne4 2 1 .Qf4
20 . . . Ne41/ 21.fxe4
Not 2l. Bxd8 Nxd2, which leaves
too many pieces hanging. Black
threatens both Bxd4+ and Rxd8 .
316
1 6. . . Rxe41
If you did, you would have already
known that bishops are more import
ant on various occasions in this line!
After
2 5 .d6
Re3,
relative
ly best is 2 6 . Kf1 Qh2 27 . g4 Rxf3
2 8 . Rxf3 Qxc2 - + because other tries
are wors e : 2 6 . d7 ? Nxd7 2 7 . Bxb7
Ne 5 - + and 2 6 . Kh l? Re4 (or e ven
26 . . . Kg 7!- +) 2 7 . Bxe4 Qh4+ 2 8 . Kgl
Nxe 4 2 9 . d7 Nxf2 3 0 . d8 Q + Bxd8
3 l . Qxf2 ? ? Bb6 - +.
Exercise 1
317
Exercise 2
Wolske - Kubikova
Shankar - Saravnan
Pardubice 1996
16. . . c5!
The best move. White was threat
ening to bring his knight to d6 by
c4-c5 and Nd2-c4-d6. Black pre
vents this and brings his own knight
quickly to the d4 outpost.
1 7. b5
Naturally, 17.bxc5 is no better, as
then both the c4 and a3 pawns will
be desperately weak, after 17. . . Nxc5+.
318
Exercise 3
18 . . . c5!
It makes no sense for Black to
allow the consolidating Nd2-b3-c5 or
Bb4-c5 maneuvers. The weak back
rank helps Black demonstrate an
advantage.
19. Rxc5
19. Bxc5 loses to 19 . . . Bh6 ! 20.Nb3
20.Bxd6 Rxcl+)
20 . . . Bxcl
2 l . Bxd6 Bxe4 22.0-0 Bxb2-+.
(not
21.Nb3
If 2 l .b4, Black will first of all get
rid of the doubled pawn with 2 l . . .a5
2 2 . a3 axb4 2 3 . axb4 Bh6 24.Nb3+
and then make use of the freshly
opened a-file with 24 . . . Ra6 .
21 . . . a5!
Not a moment of rest for White.
22.Be3
2 2 . a4 would be answered by
22 . . . Ba6 with the threat Ba6 -c4, and
even the white king is in jeopardy.
20. R b2
22 . . . Rc2+
25.(3
White's last chance was 25 .Rcl,
for if 25 ... Rxb2? then 2 6 . Nd3.
and
Black
22. Na2
23. Rdd2
b5
ReaB
24. cxb5 Rxa2 25. Rxa2 Rxa2
2 6. Rxa2 Bxa2 2 7. b 6 NbS 28. b7
Bd6 29. Ne1 Nd4 0-1
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Ritz - Neumeier
2 l . . .Ra3 w a s better.
Wattens 1997
Vecindario 2010
The d-file is well covered and the
white rooks are useless . But how
about their black counterparts?
19 . . . a5!
21 . . . Ra6
22 . . . Kf8/
This is the endgame that Black
319
32.Bd3
If 32 .b3 then 32 . . . Nd4+ 3 3 . Kd2
Nxb3+!-+.
Exercise 6
26.(3 Nb 6 2 7. Kb3
Now the second player will coor
dinate his forces.
Olafsson - Danielsen
Reykjavik Open 2006
The bishop on h3 is ready to chop
off the knight whenever it reaches
the e6 square. A draw?
22 . . . Na8/
No, thanks! There is another
route for the knight, from where it
can attack the c4 pawn!
23. Kd2
Bringing the king to help. The al
ternatives are:
320
Exercise 2
Exercise 1
Tukmakov - Magerramov
9th Spartakiad, Moscow 1983
Goossens - Schebler
the h4
36 . . . Bh3!
The king has not a single defender
and is bound to get mated.
3 7.g3
37.gxh3 Qxh3 is an inevitable
mate on g2 .
26 . . . Ncxe4!
He missed that he cannot hold
the control over the black squares!
321
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Torres - Strikovic
24. Bxc5?
Things were not that bad after
24.Nc4 ! , since White has open files to
compensate for the material deficit.
Now he gets mated.
13 . . . Bxg4
Not really. Attention to small de
tails is always required in the game
of chess. Here, White included the
prophylactic move Kgl-h l and Black
Nf6 -h7, which clearly favors him.
The difference:
1 6. exf5 h5 1 7. Qe2 h4
Black wins a piece.
18.Nde4
Rxf5
20. Bxh4 Rf4 0-1
322
19. Qg4
Qf7
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Naumkin - Khalifman
Izquierdo - Navarro
29. . . Qg4!
This move brings the h-pawn to
g4 and creates additional problems
for White. Neither 29 . . . Bg5 nor 29 . . .
g5 are as good.
30. Qxg4
The
queen
cannot
retreat:
30.Qh2?? Bf4 ! , and 30.Qel?? Qxh3+
3l.gxh3 Rxh3 mate.
24 . . . c5!
A typical method! Either the
b-pawn will be swapped or else the
knight will get the excellent outpost
on b4. In both the cases Black sta
bilizes his situation on the queen's
flank and can concentrate on his play
on the other side of the board.
323
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Straka - Rabatin
Valle - Di Berardino
20 . . . Bh3!
24 . . . Kg6!+
21. Bf1
Bxg2!
23. Bg3 Be3+
22. Bxg2
h3+
324
Exercise 2
Martinez - DamJjanovic
Polishchuk - Nesterets
An appetizer.
2 7. . . Rc1+!!
A nice tactical shot.
28. Kd2
White loses the rook, as the line
28.Rxcl Bb4+ 29.Rc3 Bxc3 mate is
more than convincing!
21 . . . Nxe4!
The white king is in danger!
24. Rg1 e5
And black won.
325
20.(60
Not 20.gxf3 Bxf3 ++-.
20 . . . Nxg5!
Weaker is 20 . . . Bh8 2 l .h4!oo as
pointed out by Khalifman and Nesis.
21.fxg7
28. Ke1
Nh8!
22. Nd8
Kxg7
Intending Nf2 .
28 . . . Rd8!+
82. a8
Or 32.g3 Nd3+ 3 3 . Bxd3 Bxd3 -+.
Exercise 3
Arlandi - Khalifman
Groningen 1985
Demonstrate your compensation !
18 . . . (5!
The game needs to be opened be
fore White consolidates his position!
326
82 . . . e5 88.g8
Rxd8 85. Nd1
8 7. Nd5 e8 0-1
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Harika - Mamedov
Moscow 2012
How can Black fight against the
opponent's space advantage?
20 . . . Ba4!
Mamedov trades a pair of bishops.
In the arising position with opposite
colored bishops, the black one will be
placed in a dominant position while
its counterpart will be limited by
its own pawns and can only defend
them. The space advantage will
become irrelevant.
21. Qxa4
Dragomarezkij - Kaminski
Warsaw Open 1992
Which
piece
position together?
1 9. exd5 b5!
White's
1B . . . Bxd5!
2 7.fxg6
hxg6
2B. Qg4
Kg 7
29. Rxc3 Qxc3 30. a4 Bf6 31. h 3
R c 5 32. Qf3 Qd4 33. Qd3 Qb2
34. Rb1 Qa2 35. Rf1 Rc3 36. Qe2
Rc2 3 7. Qf3 Qb2 3B. Bd3 Rd2
39. Bb5 Qe5 4 0. Qf4 Qxf4 41. Rxf4
Rd4 42.g3 Be5 43. Rg4 Rd2
44. BeB Rf2 45. Kg1 Bd4 46. Kh1
Be3 4 7. h4 Kh6 4B. Bd7 Rc2 49. h5
holds
32 7
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Zaid - Ubilava
USSR 1974
Prove that the white pieces are
clumsy.
16. . . Na5!
With some clever maneuvering,
Black manages to uncoordinate the
opponent's troops.
Dias - Fier
17.Nb4
Curitiba 2010
17. . . Bd4+
19. Nbd5!?
18. Kd2
Bc5+
19 . . . Nc 6
And not
2l .cxd5;!;.
19 . . . e6
20.b4
exd5
3 0. Bxe4
24 . . . Be5
Threatening 25 . . . Bxa4+-.
82 . . . Qxf4 +
Black has recovered the p awn,
can win another one, and continues
the attack. His p osition is winning.
Exercise 8
84 . . . Ng4
The threat is Ng4-e3 -c4.
Akhmadeev - Amonatov
Nezhmetdinov Memorial 2007
What is Black's plan?
28 . . . Nh 7!+
Solutions to the Exercises: Chapter 2
329
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Demanghon - Perrin
FRA-chT2 2008
Is White as rock solid as he
seems?
13 . . . Bxb5
No, he is not, and Black can win
back his pawn!
14. Bxb5
Better is 14 .Nxb5 Qxd2+ 15.Bxd2
Rxa2+.
14 . . . Nxe41
Sergeev - Klimov
St. Petersburg 2003
A small combination.
15.fxe4
16. Bxc4
19. Kf2
If 19.Ral then 19 . . . Ra4! and
if 19.a3 then 19 . . . Ra4 20.b4 cxb4
330
15. . . Bxc41
331
Exercise 2
Varlet - Trommsdorf
Metge - Rogers
Auckland 1992
21 . . . Ncxe41
Black sees that the white pieces
are stepping on each other's toes,
and wins the game at once.
This is even better than 2 1 . . . Nd3
22. Bxd3 Bxd3 23 .Rdl Nxe4 24. Rxd3
Nxf2 .
22. Bxe4
24. Nfd4
Nxe4
28. Qxe4
Rc4
332
26. . . Bc21
Winning at least the exchange.
2 7. Rxd5
No better is 27.Rcl Bxe4+
2 8 . Kxe4 Rxd2 29.Bxd2 Rxd2.
2 7. . . Bxd1+ 0-1
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Verdier - Maier
Trepkl;l - Skrivanek
Tabor 2011
25 . . . Rxc5!
14 . . . Nxe4!!
26. Qxc5
2B. Khl
Nxe4
2 7. Qxa5
Bc5+
15. Be3
15. . . Qd8
Here Black could have won with
the energetic 15 . . . Nxc3 ! 16. Bxb6
e4 17.Qe3 exf3 18.Bc5 fxg2 19.Rgl
NxbH.
1 6. Qxe4 '1
One more mistake and it is over.
The last chance was 16 . Nxe4 f5 17.d6
fxe4 18 .Qd5+ Kh8 19.Ng5oo.
333
Exercise 5
Sykora - Sochna
Czechia Team Championships 2011
Drive the e-pawn forward!
16 . . . Bxe4!
It is a pity to part with such a great
piece, but the return on investment is
worth it. The long diagonal is opened
for the other bishop and the e-pawn
advances with great effect!
2I . Ne6 Nxd51- +
Now Black wins a piece.
334
Exercise 6
Poobalasingam - White
Gerard - Hebden
British Championship
Isle of Man 2005
19
Exercise 7
Nxe4!
21 . . . Rc4!
Harassing the queen and under
lining the fact that it is overworked.
Premature is 2 1 . . . Bxf3 2 2 . gxf3 .
22. Qa3
Or 2 2 .Qb3 e4 2 3 . Nel Bxa l .
22 . . . Bxf3
The result: Black takes back the
sacrificed piece and emerges with
two pawns ahead.
23. Bb3
If 2 3 .Qxf3 then 23 ... Rxa4 .
18
..
Bf6!
14.g3
The bishop trade cannot be avoid
ed after 14 .Qe3 Bh4 15.Rfl f6 .
14
..
Bg5 15. d6 ?!
19 . . . Qxg3+!
20. Qxg3
Nxg8- +
335
Exercise 8
21. Rad1
Or 2 1 . Kxg3 Nxd3 .
Sofronie - Golubev
Bucharest 2003
What should Black do now?
20 . . . Nc 7!
The knight has nothing to do on
the rim, so Golubev brings it into
play via the square e8!
336
Exercise 2
Uksti - Kulaots
Strunsky - Raykhman
German Championship
Net Final UlB 2009
10 . . . Nfxe4!
20 . . . Nd3+!
11.fxe4
33 7
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Zaiatz - Komiagina
Wilder - Gallagher
ll . . . Ncxe4!
This is this shot! We've seen it
with the hanging rook on bl; here
it works thanks to the fact that the
queen's only retreat will be f3 .
20 . . . Bf6!
Gallagher first brings the bishop
into play and equalizes.
Exercise 5
Walkusz - Dlugosz
Gdansk Championships 2005
White has just started queenside
action. Prove that it's premature!
339
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Mohr - Uhlmann
Bagirov - Khismatullin
Bundesliga 1994
17. . . g5!
Breaking open the position for
the black-squared bishop !
18.Ne5
Or 18.fxg5 Nxg5 19.Qc3 a5! with
hits on black squares all over the
board!
18 . . . gxf4 19. c6
White loses material after 19.gxf4
Nxf4 20.Rxf4 Qg5+.
19 . . . bxc 6
Even better was 19 . . . Ng5 ! 2 0 . Rxf4
Nh3+ 2 l . Kfl bxc6 2 2 . Nxc6 Bxf4
23.gxf4 Qh4-+.
340
16 . . . Nxf4! 1 7. Rxf4 g5
Not bad, but Black could have
achieved even more with 17 . . . f6 ! 18.e6
(or 18. exf6 e5!) 18 ... Bxf4+ 19. Kxf4
g5++.
19. Rxh4
21. Bd8 ?!
Bg7
20. cxb5
RbB
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Seirawan - Gelfand
Tilburg 1990
20 . . . Ne4!
12 . . . h5!
21. Qe3
Krum
Georgiev
performs
sophisticated prophilaxis.
14 . . . hxg4
15. Ng5+
KgB!
1 6. Rdg1
gxf3
1 7. Bxf3 Bd7
18.Ne2 Qe7 19. Ng3 Ng4 20. Bxc5
dxc5 21.Nf1 Nf6 22. h5 Nxh5
23. Bxh5 Rxh5 24. Rxh5 gxh5
25. Ne3 Ra6 26. Qh2 Rg6 2 7. Nf3
Qf6 0-1
341
Exercise 10
29. Qg2
This loses instantly.
A human would not think of
bringing the queen to the tiny little
spot 2 9.Qh4 , but this was White's
best chance. Nevertheless , Black is
extremely active and despite the rook
down has great chances of a success
ful end of his attack after 2 9 . . . e4+ (or
Silman Brooks
-
26. . . Rxc3!
The start of a wonderful attack.
There is also the positional solution,
26 . . . Qc7 followed by Nb6-c4 with the
advantage, but the move in the game
is flashier!
27. Kxc3
Worse is 27.Qxc3 Nxe4 28 .Qc2
Nxg3 -+.
342
Exercise 1
Miroiu
Nikcevic - Tkachiev
White's position seems rock-solid.
27. . . Bxg4!
But it's not!
Unfortunately for White, he can
not capture the intruder: 28.fxg4
Nd3 ! 29.Bxd3 Qf3+ 30.Kh2 Bf4+
3 1 . Kgl Qxg4+ 3 2 . Kfl Qxd l+ 3 3 . Kg2
Qg4+ 34.Kfl Bg3 -+.
One more deflection. White re
signed due to 29. Qd3 Ncl .
Georgescu
1 6. . . Nxh3!
28. Qc3
Cannes 1996
1 7. b4
Not 17.gxh3
17.Kxh3?? Nd4+.
Qxf3+
and
not
343
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Kostic - Riemersma
Caorle 1989
Havana 2007
19. . . Ng3+11
20.fxg3
21. Qxd3 e4 22. Bxe4
Bxd3
344
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Robatsch - Timoscenko
Vokoun - Juptner
. CZE-chT1 W 2012
White wants to castle long.
1 6. . . Rf4!
This typical exchange sacrifice
welcomes the king to the queen's
flank. There is no safe heaven on
earth for the white monarch now.
1 7. Bxf4
This leads to disaster, but White
did not have much choice.
If 17.0-0-0 Black can insist:
17 . . . Rd4! 18.Qel (The queen is lost
after 18.Bxd4 exd4 19.Nb1 Bh6!) and
now 18 . . . a4+ with overwhelming po
sition, or the pretty line 18 . . . Rxc4
19. Bxc4 Qxc4 20.Rgl Qxa2 ! ! 2 l . Nxa2
Nb3 mate.
f3!
Even worse
2 l . Kdl Qxf3+.
20.Ke2
is
19. Bxf3
Qxf2+
345
Exercise 7
Todorovic - Dujkovic
SCG-chT 2006
The king's in the center.
13 . . . (4!
And it's quite disturbed after:
346
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Arnaudov - Novikov
Sahu - Miles
EU-ch 2008
Kolkata 1995
A standard idea . . .
1 6 . . . Nf4!
20. . . g4!
1 7.gxf4
22 . . . {3!!
than
Better
19. Ndxe4 Qxf4+.
18. Bxf4
Bxe4
Bxe4
21.fxe4
23. Bxf3
The only move was 2 3 . Nxf6+,
when Miles most probably would
have continued the attack with
23 . . . Raxf6 2 4 . Bxf3 Rxf3 2 5 . gxf3
Qg5+ 2 6 . Kfl Bh3+ 27.Ke2 Rxf3
2 8 . Rgl Qf4-+.
25 . . . Rh6
Black h a s a decisive attack.
34 7
Exercise 10
Wolf - Kleinwaechter
GER-chT 1999
How to increase Black's activity?
15 . . . Ne8!
First, the knight heads for the
fabulous d6 square.
1 7. 0 - 0 - 0 Kg7
Black holds all the cards.
Also possible are 17 ... Ra6 18.Kbl
Bg5 19. Bc2 Nd6+ and 1 7 . . . Bg5+ .
348
Exercise 2
Aronian - Marjanovic
Szabolcsi - Lorscheid
Bucharest 1999
Budapest 2007
15 . . . Nxe4!
1 7. . . Nxb2!
16. Bd4
The knight can't be taken:
16 . Nxe4 Qxe l ! 17.Qxel Nf3+ 18.Kg2
Nxel+ 19.Rxel Rxe4-+.
And not 16.b4 Nxc3.
349
Exercise 4
Exercise 3
Ursie
Palleja - Rahal
Sulava
Barcelona 1995
19 . . . Nxf2/
Black is attacking the king, but . . .
A typical trick.
18 . . . Bxh3/
which chops a pawn. The f3
square is always vulnerable in these
Fianchetto lines!
19. Bg5
Parting with the queen is no good:
19. Bxh3?? Nf3+.
And 19.f4 Bxg2 20.fxe5 sees Black
escaping with both pieces in one go:
20 . . . Nxe4!-+.
Exercise 5
20. . . Nf3!
The dangerous bishop
changed off and Black wins.
is
ex
21. Qf4
The
knight
is
untouchable:
2 l . Kxf3 Nxe4 2 2 . Bxe7 (not 22.Nxe4
Qxe4 mate) 22 . . . Nxd2+ 2 3 . Ke2
Bxc3-+.
Wheeler - Zilberstein
.
18 . . . Ng4!
The kingside is so weak that
Black can sacrifice his knight to
bring his forces closer to White's
most precious piece.
19. Be3
Strategical resignation.
However, the attack is devas
tating after 19.hxg4 Qxf2+ 20.Khl
Qxg3 , and the good thing is that it is
for free, since Black can always get a
third pawn in the process.
Now 2 l . Re3? falls to 2 1 . . . Qh4+
22.Kgl (not 22.Kg2 Rf2 + 23.Kgl Qh2
mate) 22 . . . Be5-+
Best is 2 l . Re2 Bxc3! 22 .bxc3 Qxg4
23 .Qgl Qf3+ 24.Qg2 (if 24.Rg2 then
24 . . . Qxe4) 24 . . . Qh5+ 2 5 . Kgl Qc5+-+.
351
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Schaefer - Lechtynsky
Holeman - Acher
Litomysl 1997
Somewhat of a surprise . . .
14 . . . Qa511
13 . . . Nc5!
15. Bxd6
15. . . Rfd8!
The bishop is frozen due to the
major threat of . . . d4-d3 , and Black
wins material.
16.e5
Or 16.b4 Qa3 17.e5 d3 18.Qcl
Qxcl 19.Nxcl d2 20.Nxd2 Rxd6
21 .exd6 Bxal-+.
16. . . d3 1 7. b4
If 17.Qxd3 then 17 . . . Nxe5 18.Qdl
Nxf3+ 19. Bxf3 Bxal-+.
352
1 7. Rfdl
Not 17.Qxb7 Bxfl .
Exercise 9
Exercise 8
Barcelona 2001
1 7. . . Nxg3!
The king is brought out into the
open air and various knight forks
start to appear.
Hoffmann - Movsesian
EU- Cup, Ohrid 2009
28 . . . Rxe2!
All of them get in the game, and
White resigned after:
29. Rxe2
No different is 29.Qxe2 Nf4 .
353
Exercise 10
This
Black.
Zats - Bonin
USA-AmChT, Parsippany 2001
Black's position looks cramped.
14 . . . Nb5!
But appearances are deceptive,
since the black pieces can easily
reach the opponent's camp. First of
all, the defender on c3 is traded.
is
354
makes
things
easier
for
Index of Variations
Chapter 1: The Classical Variation
Chapter la: Flexibility in the Classical Variation
l. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6. Be2 e5 7. 0- 0
exd4 8.Nxd4 Re8 9. (3 c6
19
26
26
26
26
18
33
33
33
32
32
36
38
38
35
35
1 2 . Bf4 Be6
1 2 .Be3
Index of Variations
355
43
43
43
42
42
40
40
41
39
51
51
51
51
51
49
50
56
57
55
55
55
59
58
58
58
356
Index of Variations
72
72
71
71
70
70
69
69
68
69
83
83
83
83
78
78
80
75
75
75
74
68
Index of Variations
357
l l . Bxd8 Nf4
99
99
99
95
96
96
96
97
94
94
93
92
92
1 14
1 13
111
111
112
1 10
1 10
1 10
108
109
109
Index of Variations
359
122
122
126
125
123
136
136
131
134
145
144
144
144
140
140
142
150
150
148
150
154
154
154
155
166
161
164
17 1
17 1
170
170
170
169
168
Index of Variations
361
Ng4!
Nxe4?
Na6
Nfd7
197
197
197
197
196
196
196
196
195
206
205
205
194
190
193
199
200
362
Index of Variations
202
201
230
224
224
225
224
224
222
2 14
2 18
220
220
Index o{ Variations
363
248
241
243
244
246
240
239
239
258
257
252
252
253
253
253
262
262
262
262
262
262
262
364
Index of Variations
261
261
282
282
282
282
281
280
280
281
2 78
2 78
277
274
2 75
275
297
289
289
290
286
286
287
285
Index of Variations
365
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